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In my hostel room, we were 16 in number - 4 1gbos, 2 Fulanis, 6 Yorubas and 4 Hausas. We were all united and at peace with each other. We gisted and discovered new things about each other’s culture and religion.

One thing I really hated in camp was the way Yoruba people like to show their language off. It seemed like the Yorubas had the largest population in camp because any small gathering that you see, you will be met with people discussing in Yoruba. A Yoruba person will walk up to you and assume that you are also from the Yoruba tribe and start speaking Yoruba to you and you will be looking at the person as if you want to commit murder. It was so bad that whenever my platoon leader addresses us in English, she unconsciously drifts to Yoruba and I and some other people will get angry and tell her to revert to English.

I looked forward to the sporting activities in camp. I participated fully in the sporting activities in camp .In football, we trained in the evening every day to select the best players for each position available. I was selected to play as a defender in the right back position for my platoon. I didn’t know why NYSC did not allow volleyball for guys too. I was very good at volleyball and with my experience, I assisted in coaching the amateur ladies in my platoon on the rules of the game and other important details like serving, laying the ball up for your opponent, rotation, teamwork and so on.

It was time for the football competition to start, we were to play platoon 1. Platoon 2 vs Platoon 1. The match started by 5pm. I was eagerly waiting for this moment to come. We followed our coach tactics by mostly punting the ball high up the field hopeful that it will land favourably for our tall attacker to utilize, this tactics almost resulted in a goal for our platoon but it was only the crossbar that saved our opponent from conceding a goal. In the dying minutes of the first half, we got a corner kick which was only half cleared by the opponent, the ball fell kindly to me and as I made to feint a defender, I was tackled dangerously from behind and we were awarded a free kick. From the resulting free kick, we got our first goal as the opponent’s goalkeeper was left completely rooted to the spot. The second half started with platoon 1 having the upper hand in possession as they tried to seek a way back to the match but our defence held our ground. Something strange happened ten minutes to the end of the match. It is the rule in camp that once it is 6pm, the trumpet will be sounded for Nigeria to go to sleep and everybody is expected to be at a standstill no matter what you were doing. A platoon 1 attacker dribbled past our defence and just as he was about to go one-on-one with our goal keeper, the trumpet sounded and the goal keeper stood at a standstill and the attacker rounded the immobile goalkeeper and tucked the ball in the open goal. The goal was hotly debated by the coaches of the two teams and the referee and at the end it was disqualified much to the dismay of the platoon 1 players. Two minutes to the end of the match, a midfielder from platoon 1 gave a long hopeful pass to his attacker who was clearly much offside, there was no linesman to spot it and the referee could not see it from his position as the attacker raced free towards goal and placed the ball perfectly at the bottom corner, 1- 1!. Straight to penalties. We lost the penalty shootout to platoon 1 and exited prematurely from the tournament.

source : www.martinezefra..com

We were all dressed in white shirt, short and canvas. We all stayed in our respective platoons and after the morning address and reciting the anthems and prayers we started jogging and doing some excruciating exercises. Next was the parade training- the medical corpers and those in the OBS crew were exempted from the parade activities ,we marched up and down the field in the military fashion till the trumpet for breakfast saved us.

We all rushed to our respective hostels, took our plates and meal ticket and stood on a queue to the camp kitchen. The tea that was being served was watery but I added some beverages to make up for it. The big boys and girls on camp resorted to the Mami market to eat. After having my breakfast, I took my bath and I had scarcely rested my head on my bed when the trumpet for ‘boring lectures’ and SAED (Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development) was sounded.

We struggled for chairs in the hall in preparation for the ‘boring lecturers’. The lectures started by 10.00am and as the speakers talked endlessly, most of the corpers where enjoying the sleep that was deprived of them the previous night. Next was the SAED programme which comprises of ICT, Tailoring, baking of cakes, making of beads,soaps, etc. Each corper was expected to fall under one of the groups. I went for ICT, but I didn’t learn anything new there because the lecturer was taking me very backwards because of some people who have not even operated a computer in their lives before.

The lectures ended by 2pm and I went to the kitchen with the rest of the corpers for their lunch of eba and watery egusi soup. After having lunch, I put on my white short and shirt and tried to catch a fast sleep but it seemed that I had only slept for a minute when the trumpet for afternoon parade was sounded again by 4pm. I quickly doubled up to the parade ground. I didn’t know between the biting cold and the scorching sun which was worst. We were made to stand under the sun for what seemed like hours to me practicing our salutation to the governor of the state with orders like “Remove hair dressing”, “Replace hair dressing”, next they formed us into units and we practiced the quick march and the slow march procession. We ended by 6pm and went to our hostels worn out from the activities.

The trumpet for dinner sounded by 7pm and we all followed the same routine as before. When we all thought that it was over for the day, the trumpet sounded yet again by 8pm and we were all told to go to the hall for the dance and drama presentation by each platoon. It was really fun as each platoon tried to outdo the other platoon in the cultural dances and comedy drama exhibited. The exhibition ended by 10pm and we all retired to our respective hostels. Corpers that failed to come out of their hostels for the drama and dance were punished the next day, they were made to sit on the bare floor for 6 hours. That’s the worst the soldiers could do to us as they were bound by law not to flog us or physically assault us.

source : www.martinezefra..com

more updates to follow

I checked my call up letter the second time just to be sure that it was not a mistake, I was posted to Yobe state (land of Boko Haram)! Though, I had always wanted to visit the northern part of the country but I didn’t envisage that it was going to be in the war zone of the country. I became a little relaxed when I discovered that I will not even set my foot in Yobe state for I was going to be camping in Bauchi state. Alas!
My parents were not happy about it and they tried to see if there was a way that I will be exempted from the NYSC programme but there was no way I will allow that to happen because of that adventurous spirit in me.
The day finally reached, I was finally going to visit the northern part of the country for the first time in my life. I could not find a direct bus going from Owerri to Bauchi state so I went to ABC Park in Owerri and boarded a sprinter bus heading to Jos. We left Owerri by 12p.m. When we reached Kaduna, we decided to stop over to get something to eat. I had a strange experience with the food being served. They were only selling Yam and roasted plantain served with either stew or just dried pepper. I settled for plantain with stew. I had barely tasted the plantain with stew when I almost threw up for the taste of the stew was strange to me. I threw my food away and bought plantain with dried pepper instead- very strange indeed.
The first thing that I experienced on reaching Jos by 12a.m in the morning was the cold, I have never experienced such a cold before in my life, it was 7 degree Celsius. I was practically shaking and to make matters worse, I was putting on a short sleeve. My uncle came and picked me up in the dead of the night and I spent my first night in Jos covered in goose pimples. My once effective sweater was rendered useless, I knew that I had to get myself a thicker sweater, thick socks, a head warmer and a hand gloves if I was to survive in my new environment. The cold was so much that you don’t even need to put your water or soup in the freezer as it gets cold on its own. lol.
It was now time to leave Jos for Bauchi where I was to camp. We passed so many security check-points on our way to Bauchi and it took us two hours to finally reach the camp.
Before entering the camp, all the corpers were thoroughly searched to avoid stories that touches the heart. We then queued up for our registration and by 7pm I was done with the registration, got my meal ticket and queued up for my first taste of camp food.
I was woken up by 4.30am by the sound of the biggle(trumpet) and I was quickly brought to the harsh and exciting reality that I was now undergoing a military training . I quickly came down from my bunk bed, brushed my teeth and washed my face- taking a bath was completely out of the question, no thanks to the biting cold. Double up Otondo! If you are walking, you are wrong ! , those were some of the slogans used by the soldiers to hurry us to the parade ground. Latecomers were subjected to the frog-jump treatment.

source: http://martinezefra..com.ng/2016/06/my-interesting-nysc-experience-part-1.html