Karaye - the Journey

6:am and my bus peeled out of the banks of the great calabar river.

Away from the University of Calabar, one university with a population of 50,000+ yet the air is unstuffy

Destination was Kano - Northern Nigeria
Purpose was to serve and the thanks was for Gen Gowon Rtd

28 hours later I was greeted with the scorching heat of the sun as the dusts welcomed me to Kano

Next was Karaye even though the waters of Kusalla damn didn't roar to acknowledge my presence I felt welcomed

I've sang the national anthem for the better part of my existence and here I was poised to fulfil it
Every morning reality beckons with the sound of a bugle is succeeded by whistles

Sleep is a luxury too high to afford
Double up is the mantra
Fear of the north resonates from the background
Cries of deployment although silent are more louder than the NYSC anthem

Everyone is healthy but sick at the same time
Why is heat so hot and why is cold so cold?
Harsh realities of the North
Insecurity, religious tension and the Boks are sincere worries

But one thing is crystal clear, when death decides to have you for an evening snack
Your location is the least of his worries, whether it's Aso Villa or on the death fields of Sambisa

The south where I'm from and the north my present host are both divergent world's and NYSC is the bridge
We've aggregated at the Kusalla Dam from different parts of Nigeria and we won't be damned

Kano will be our new love, fear would be a distant cousin and joy will be the child
As we number our days to the exit of Karaye
The soldiers who stole the keys to our morning happiness, the morning drills, the drums, the mami market and the mami waters we take there
The kitchen and their fantastic meals, the parades, the white shorts and shirts and the colored waters of Kusalla dam that defiled the laws of chemistry will remain etched in our hearts

memories will be relished years after and tales of the exploits will be recounted by the moonlights

If wishes were horses, the sun should take a chill pill, the cold should take a wife and be warm, 9mobile should be stable, camp food should cross our throats and let's not clamour for relocation since "fear the north" will change to "fear not"

somewhere hope is lurking in the form of allawee with the 3 to the O and the letter K is a suffix
It won't be the first of the many hopes an average Nigerian is akin to

God bless Karaye our host, the waters of Kusalla shall never run dry and may we never regret staying back

Spiff Wright
Batch C 2019/2020
Kano State

nice but looks like a novel

Well I never.
Seeing a poem about NYSC. About Kano. All the way from Cross River. And then you stayed back. WOW.

I've been posted to Kano (Karaye Camp), going from Ibadan. I'm still in shock.
I do hope it turns out to be a wonderful and fulfilling experience?

How is it for you from orientation camp to PPA stress?

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