- What to do in NYSC camps?
- NYSC camps in Nigeria
- NYSC camping activities


Has the NYSC Camps all over Nigeria ever turned out to be the way any corp member imagined? The answer is a pretty big NO!!! Every prospective corp member already knows the camp wasn't going to be an easy place but as soon as you step foot into the Camp, it gets worse.


The long queues for registration, the early morning parades, the whites, the oversized apparels, the horrible food are all part of the uneasy experience in every NYSC Camp that makes it tiresome for every corp member.


A lot of corp members go about this the wrong way, instead of looking beyond the flaws of the NYSC camping system and getting to discover the fun aspects, they choose to wallow in the drastic change in their way of life. To correct this, NYSCHUB has outlined few activities that can make your NYSC camping experience go from bad to fantastic. Here are the highlights of the top ten things to do in NYSC Camp;


Make friends :
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Nigeria is a country with diverse ethnic groups. On top of that, the NYSC programme brings together Nigerians in diaspora and you never can tell who is who as everyone is in their white top, shorts, sneakers. We all look the same then, the real difference between the highly placed and the struggling folks begins to manifest immediately the camping activities are over. This is why it is advised that as soon as you step foot into the NYSC camp, you should begin to make friends. It doesn't matter whether the person on the other end of your friendship deal is an opposite sex, a tall or short human, a uniformed man, an indigene or a fellow corp member. You need to befriend them all. This doesn't mean you should join the wrong clique, this is only a wake up call for you to meet people that might play a vital role in your upliftment later in life.


Learn a new language: Nigeria as a country has over 250 languages and you reading this right now probably speaks one of the 250 languages. The need for versatility calls for you as a corp member to know more than a language, not everyone understands English, not everyone can communicate in pidgin and the chances of finding someone who you can converse with in your mother's tongue in a strange land is pretty rare. The very best way to learn a new language in NYSC Camp is to befriend the traders inside mammy market. This is in a bid to learn the basics of any language you are interested in learning. For instance, the traders will teach you how to bargain in their language and you'll learn more from them with more bants. One other way to learn a new language is through your newly-made friends that you'll be together with for three good weeks. When you befriend someone from another tribe, you can learn to speak their language bit by bit until you can construct a full sentence without stuttering. If the first two ways doesn't work out well for you, you can try learning from uniformed men charged with the responsibility of keeping every corp member on the NYSC Camp grounds safe. These uniformed men are one of the friendliest creatures on earth. They are jovial and they share a lot of intriguing stories about their experiences in service to the nation. The last resort for anyone who is incapable of going through the process of fostering new friendships and learning a new language from words of mouth is to turn to language teaching applications that are available both on windows, android and iOS.


Try new meals:
One other thing that unites people of all nation is a well prepared delicacy. Now listen, the meals and delicacies here are not in any way pointing to the meals being served in the camp's kitchen, no, the place of focus here is the mammy market. The mammy market in every NYSC camp is the best place to find new meals that you've never tasted. And the best part of it all, those meals are dirt cheap and delicious. As a guide to corpses who are adventurous and willing to give something new a try, here's a specially prepared list of meals you can try in NYSC Camps across the country. This list is region-based.


South East/South-South NYSC Camps
Edikang Ikong: This is a vegetable soup that is cooked differently from what you get in fancy restaurants. The soup originates from the Efik tribe and it is the product of a mashup of water leaf and Okazi leaves.
Afang soup: This one is also from the Efik tribe and it is also made from the combination of water leaf and Okazi leaves.
Ofe Akwu: This one's a tasty sauce that's made from fresh palm oil and it's best enjoyed with rice.
Ugba: Ugba is a salad-like meal that was popularised by the Igbos and it is now enjoyed all over the country.
Oha Soup: From the name, Oha soup is made with Oha leaves and it can be best enjoyed with nicely made Eba.
Ogbono Soupo: Who doesn't know the ever popuar Ogbono soup? Truth is, every Nigerian does but, do you know the origin of Ogbono soup? It originated from the esan poeople of Edo state and this soup is best served hot.

Meet like minds: There is an average of 2000 corp members in every NYSC camp across the country. There is a high probability that some of your fellow corp members have the same skill-set as you. Some more advanced and others less advanced than yours. These set of skilled like-minded corpers are in every corner of the NYSC camp. One sure place to meet and socialize with people equipped with the same or more knowledge as you is during SAED trainings. This is so because during SAED every corp member with particular set of skilss get grouped into classes that focuses on various spheres of life. SAED has barbing, baking, tailoring, shoe making, ICT etc. classes. These classes are to introduce you to skills you're interested in and to broaden your knowledge on what you know. Finally, SAED classes afford you the luxury of meeting new people with the same interest as you. The importance of this kind of networking can never be overemphasized. While in "white and white" everyone looks the same, you can hardly differentiate those born with silver spoon and those born with wooden spoon(or no spoon at all as the case may be). Life outside NYSC is what shows who is who. While you are complaining about every Thursday(or whichever say your CDS is) CDS transportation fee, other corp members will come to that same CDS with fancy cars and gadgets. Forget about not being born into a wealthy family, you can join the elite league by the kind of company you keep.


Learn self defense:

Asides marching, football, volleyball and other training activities aimed at keeping corp members physically and mentally fit, there are programs for people who are interested in learning a self defense technique like taekwondo, kungfu, boxing and the likes. As a matter of reference, I learnt  taekwondo while in camp. The exercise seemed difficult at first but now, with just a few weeks of training, I can give a combination of deadly kicks to any attacker. These trainings come with a warning though, they can only be used for self defense and never to be used to harm individuals who mean you no harm. A video of basic taekwondo kicks have been included to help you get a better picture of what I am talking about.


Have fun:
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Nysc camp is full of lively activities if you do well to look past the early morning drills, boring lectures and several restrictions. Activities such as carnival, camp fire, dance competition, comedy shows, welcome party and the likes add to the liveliness of nysc camps. You are not just participating in these activities for nothing. If you are good enough and well versed n what you do, you get to be popular(soldiers will pardon you for breaking most of the rules), get the kind of exposure you need and there are also prices to be won.


Learn a skill:
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One of the core reasons for establishing the national youth service corp is to equip Nigerian youths with problem solving skills in the face of unemployment. To this end was the reason why the "Skills Acquisition & Entreprenuership Department (SAED)" was formed. Under the SAED initiative, corpers get to learn a skill or two that can set them up financially for life. Skills like tailoring, barbing, baking, webdesign etc. can be acquired under this department. Peradventure you complete your service year and no job is forth coming, you can get a soft loan to start your own business, be your own boss and hustle your way to the very top of the ladder.


Learn to play an instrument:
For some, playing an instrument is the best way to express what they feel. While for others, being someone that knows how to play a particular musical instrument well enough is the sole way they make their money and cater for their needs. In the various Nysc camps, you can learn how to play instruments like the band, trumpets, snare etc.


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