Adeyeancah:
Breaking News: Them don slap Op collect phone for him hand. This is Lagos

lmao I'm not in that part of Lagos

Romanus123:
I thought you were going to talk more on the entertaining part of it, you didn't even mention anything about SAED, you didn't mention MAMMY MARKET, you didn't mention how the secondary school pupils closed to Iyana Ipaja Camp used to peep during the early morning parade, you didn't talked the Marshal Act Group, what of the football competition in the camp?
ARE YOU SURE YOU REALLY SERVED IN LAGOS STATE?

I have all of this at the back of my mind and more and it's going to take a lot of updates with pictures to tell the story. patience amigo

Pranaya:
Nonye6194 where art thou? Please continue

new update

drezzyx:
Comman complete dis ya story... Don't comman start wat u cannot finish...

lmao it's step by step. new update tho

queenbetsy:
where on earth is this OP?


OP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lmao it's step by step. new update tho

emmadejust:
Nice illustrations....
Waiting for next update .....

lmao it's step by step. new update tho

DayDreamer05:
I detests unfinished stories.
You better come and finish what you started.

it's an episode by episode thingy. no vex

Mosesjoker:
Me self dey the camp.........platoon 2.......
2nd for matching........... come finish your story make I support am.........

otondo platoon lol, I was in 1.

Lagos camp to me is the best...........
not only for the fun,but people I met there.......

naso.............I like that your superman macho man too..........anyways just finish the story am really interested......... lolsss

nonye6194:



otondo platoon lol, I was in 1.

Keep it up...

nonye6194:


lmao I'm not in that part of Lagos

make I follow ur story jare

Colourich:
Thankyou dear, have pm you.

seen

nonye6194:


it's an episode by episode thingy. no vex

OK ma

AY woke me at about 7am to go have my bath and I was grateful it wasn't the bigle, since camp hasn't officially begun . I prepared and went to the registration hall with him and completed the forms and what was necessary. And that was how I ended up in platoon one, yaay while AY was in platoon five.

Next was kit collection and trust me, most persons weren't happy with what they got and here's why. Remember the part of nysc online registration where you have to fill in your clothing and footwear specifications? Well that sturvs is just for filling sake lol. The lady in charge just arranged the complete kit into several sets and we just come and pick one set, without caring if the contents were our sizes or not. I had to do what others were doing, find someone willing to swap with something close to your size. And I swapped everything in my kit set lol. Even with that, I didn't use any of the polos, shorts and tennis shoe they gave me because of their quality. I came prepared so I gave the ones I didn't wear at end of camp to a charity a friend told me about.

I linked up with AY afterwards for our bank account registration and other sturvs left before we left for lunch at mami. Returning to our hostel we found it has been filled in with more guys and we were now complete in the room (30 occupants). And my bunky was a northern fellow, a good guy called Jibrin. While AY's bunky was a mummy's pet lmaoooo. Dude was a major problem for us but let's leave his matter for Matthias for now

Later that evening, a soldier blew the infamous bigle for evening parade, the first for our batch. Then I told AY I wasn't going and wouldn't go until after the end of registration, with the trick I learnt here on nairaland . The trick is this: since registration goes on for three days and during these period, the soldiers and man o war cannot tell who has registered or not, it's usually a chaos of those wearing mufty and white on white. So they assume that those wearing the later are only the ones who have completed registration, collected their kits and can participate in parade, while those on mufty aren't cleared yet and can't participate. So they chase only those on white for parade, leaving the ones on mufty behind.

That was how we decided to keep wearing our mufty for now, claiming unregistered lol. And that was how we skipped that evening parade . We later chilled after parade that evening with our roomies, had dinner and went to bed when the lights went off.

*Quick advice for those coming to Lagos camp, don't come on the first day. It's usually a huge chaos and more stressful. Coming a day before or after the first day will save you alot of time wasting and stress that's common with the first day. There's nothing like coming late and getting the wrong rooms or kits. Everything is provided for everyone and the facilities are same too. I think it's the later you come, the best for you lol

(Attached below is a picture of those who came in before we even woke up and lined up to get bed spaces as early as 6am

and of course my kit )

Interesting continue OP.

The next day started with the sound of the bigle and man o war chants at 4:30am . See confusion, annoyance and cussing for room lol. We all rushed to have our baths and came back to quickly dress up and get down to the parade ground. We later learnt the hard way that it's useless bathing or wearing new kits for morning parade. Because at the end of the three hours plus exercise and other activities that morning, you'd be drenched in sweat and in need of another bath. We later had to adopt, washing our faces, brush and getting dressed for parade.

And those wondering why we didn't skip morning parade . We actually couldn't since everyone in the hostel had finished registration and collected their kits before lodging in. See bad luck .
So I went to the parade ground with AY and we located our respective platoons. We started with anthem, morning workout, prayers and briefing. During this time, I connected and made quite a few friends in our platoon. I even found some of my roomies we didn't know that we belonged to the same platoon lol. One in particular was Greg who later became my second best buddy in camp.

Morning parade ended at about 7:30am and I was so tired, then I made a resolve not to do this daily parade thingy for the next 20 days since it's not my calling . We went for breakfast and we were served eggs, bread, margarine and tea. Not bad huh . Dunno for the other camps but Lagos fed us alright with above average prepared meals.

Thereafter, registration continued and since there was nothing for us to do, we were free and went back to our mufties . I wasn't accustomed to that white fowl wear yet, maybe because everyone is wearing it yet. At about 4pm, the bigle sounded again and we quickly switched back to otondo white and rushed to the parade ground.

Lemme state it right here that I don't like the Nigerian military relationship with the civilians at all. And this is a prior camp opinion. So having them scream commands/profanities into our ears during parade made my skin crawl. One came to me and warned me not to wear anything on my hand during the next parade, including my swatch . That was it! I'm not doing again .

After the exhausting parade, one of my best friends (I like to refer us as the four horsemen ) Tola told AY, Greg and I about the OBS which we all agreed to apply for tryouts. We were ready to tryout for anything that'll make us skip parade lol, but I was more keen on the OBS. For those who don't know, the OBS is an acronym for Orientation Broadcasting Service, responsible generally for information dissemination in camp. They also set up public address system anywhere and whenever needed, also run radio shows, read news and interviews through their studio.

So after our dinner that evening, we went to the studio to make enquires and the folks we found in there (whom we found out later to be present serving corpers who were formerly in the OBS) just ignored us and continued with what they were doing. AY was about to change it for them if not for our quick intervention and we left. Then I made a quick mental note about AY's craze which would be needed if the need arises .

Tola left us to go and catch an early bed rest while Greg took AY and I to mami to wet our throats . We got there and it was quite the scene. Loud different music blaring from several spots, marijuana and cigarette smell in the air and everyone in a party mode. After some struggle, we found an empty table and Greg signalled the waiter when we took our seats. Uncle Greg asked for a bottle of cognac and I quickly interrupted him that I've been sober for years and not willing to end that. AY seconded me with his reason being that he was a Muslim, we were shook. Greg ignored us and when the bottle arrived with glasses, the bigle sounded for bedtime lmao. Omo see look of relief on our faces . Greg was pissed but the Man o War guys were already in mami chasing us out so we jejely left to our room. We all slept off almost immediately after a shower since it's been a long day.


(pictured below is a view of the mami market from my floor view)

Nice one reporting for camp on Wednesday/Thursday

nonye6194 can I report to camp like 3 days late ?

I WILL DELETE YOU

DAY 3
As usual, the bigle woke us the next morning and man o war chasing us to the parade ground. We had the routine morning thingy during which I avoided the soldier that threatened me about my swatch and bracelet . The next day was swearing in day so drills this morning and later in the evening was in top gear and bros eh, it wasn't funny . Although the commands and what to follow wasn't that a big deal to handle but there's always someone messing it up for all of us. And when this happens, which is almost definitely, we take it from the top again .

Well, we finished and were so exhausted. AY took out his phone and we took pishures to lighten the mood before breakfast (I attached a blurred picture of this). Did I mention how good Tola, Greg, AY and I have bonded so well in less than 72 hours? We were inseparable and it was just too good for a company although I noticed Greg getting a bit more friendly towards Tola . Well I kept mum about this and was just observing lol. Even with this observation, it didn't stop him from pursuing other girls (which was quite alot daily), getting contacts and the rest. I felt he was smooth because his humour antics usually gets the girls and they give up what he wants easily. For now it was just phone number and name . I was there laughing and playing my position as a wingman.

After breakfast, Greg called me to the hostel and while we were alone, he told me that he wants to ask Tola out tomorrow after the swearing in ceremony. I was like and lost for words. I later regained myself and started trying to dissuade him from his plans to no avail. Here's the thing I learnt Greg and people like him, once they make a decision it's final. And they'll go at any length to match their words with action. Following his final resolve, all I did was wish him luck and then began panicking for my guy incase he gets a no and our horsemen gets disbanded.

We went back and linked up with Tola and AY and went about the rest of the day's activities. But my head was just so messed up with many scenarios of what may happen tomorrow or after it, should Greg go ahead with his plans. The one that troubled me the most was why he confided in me alone and not with AY. I asked him days later and his reply was this:

"Omo-igbo, forget being from the same tribe as AY I trust you more than him because you've always been blunt with me. And I've not had any reason not to tell you anything especially this one. But I had doubts for AY since he could also be eyeing Tola".

I actually laughed at the last sentence because I knew AY not to be that typa person.

We spent the rest of the evening preparing for the next day after parade, so did everyone in camp since registration has ended and the atmosphere was now high with excitement.

10:30pm came quickly and the lights went off, goodnight

Phantom2:
I WILL DELETE YOU

lmaoooo guyyyyy I will put up that man's story lol

Alaadin:
nonye6194 can I report to camp like 3 days late ?

sure

Ride on bro

Nice story. One of the few stories on nairaland that doesn't follow the stereotypical kinda plots.

For those criticizing his writing style, you know nada about writing so keep mum.

His approach to the narrative is as unique as they come.

Personally, I like the engaging way with which he tells his story. He makes you feel like you've been a part of it, like you can relate. He makes it easy to create images in the mind's eye, to see what he's talking about like you were there.

The pictures are a nice touch too.

Ride on, bro.

DkJay:
Nice story. One of the few stories on nairaland that doesn't follow the stereotypical kinda plots.

For those criticizing his writing style, you know nada about writing so keep mum.

His approach to the narrative is as unique as they come.

Personally, I like the engaging way with which he tells his story. He makes you feel like you've been a part of it, like you can relate. He makes it easy to create images in the mind's eye, to see what he's talking about like you were there.

The pictures are a nice touch too.

Ride on, bro.

God bless you for this comment. What lots of people look at is your grammatical errors and these set of people are yet to do something meaningful with their lives

DAY 4


So it was swearing in day and everyone was in a mood I couldn't relate to. Maybe carrying Greg's case on my head is now ripping me off of what others are enjoying lol.

We sha had our morning parade but this time, we finished up earlier than usual to give additional time to prepare for the event of the day. After the drills we headed to the mami to have breakfast and get our khaki's from the dry cleaners.

Let me chip in this right quick for pcms: You can stay in camp for 21 days and don't do any of your laundry, it's no big deal if you can afford it. The cleaners in mami can wash anything (including your white shoes and under wears lol) so far you can pay for it. It dosent mean you're lazy because there's barely enough time to do laundry in camp to be frank. But if you want to still do you laundry yourself, you still can. Just remember where you dried your sturvs and inscribe some sort of identification on it to avoid story that touches. Just live by your means.

Greg feeling generous paid for everyone's breakfast except for me who wasn't having any appetite. I dunno if I'm the only one who this happens to but whenever I'm expecting something big (or is supposed to be important), I wouldn't have any appetite. You may think it's about the Greg and Tola thingy lol but it's not. AY had already sensed my 'awkward act' or so he called it, but I just dismissed it saying it was pre swearing-in jitters.

So it was about 9am and we were donned in our fine ass khakis for the first time and we got sworn in hours later yaaay . We later took some not so bad pishures (added some below) and had fun. Greg even with the plans he had today, my G still went on to woo girls and get their contacts. The funniest one was when he jammed a married babe who was so fine that he didn't believe she was married lol. If I was asked to make an estimate without exaggerating, I'd say he's gotten about 20-30 girl's contact in our three days in camp. Smooth right?

When the ceremony was over, Greg and Tola left for mami and I then guessed it's about time . Before then, Greg told me to wait for him while he goes on to wrap up the Tola thingy real quick and we'll all link up for lunch. I thought since he's a fast player, he won't take much time so I agreed "why not?". Meanwhile uncle AY was with a babe he started hooking up with since the previous evening. Guess what? Greg made the connect for AY with this girl from our platoon. Now you see why I say Greg is smooth . He actually wanted doing the favour for his omo-igbo friend but I told him "naaah, I'm good amigo".

I headed back to the hostel listening to some tracks off J Cole's new KOD album. I was tired from the ceremony and I thought a quick nap won't hurt. So I took off my khaki, hopped into my bed and dozed off at about 2pm.

7:23pm

I woke up to Greg's tapping on my shoulder and realised that I had overslept and Greg renegaded on our agreement because it was now dark outside. So much for a short nap . Greg started apologising almost immediately and I remembered he had an unaccomplished mission the last time I left him. So I waved the apology off so I'll get to hear how far with the situation report. Bruv told me it clicked and I was so relieved lol. I didn't even bother about the lunch and dinner I've missed out again but I had a mini heart attack when I remembered it was my mom's birthday and I haven't called her yet .

We both went out to get some junk for dinner at mami and I spoke to mom while Greg headed back to be with madam. AY hasn't returned to the room since we left for swearing in ceremony, nigga was still on his khaki while everyone has switched back to white and white. See what girls are doing to my own G's . Then I wondered if this new developments would affect the dynamics of our group and Wande Coal's 'shey na like this we go dey dey' jam crossed my mind :\. I dismissed the thoughts thinking I'm being too selfish. maybe I needed a Bonnie to my Clyde so the whole equation will be balanced for the squad. Abi ?

I went back to the hostel, gisted with Jibrin a for a while before I drifted back to a dreamless sleep.

DAY 5

So it's another day and I'm still taking part in parade with all the mouth I made about leaving abi skipping . Well we had the normal morning kini and during that, I was selected for those on afternoon duty at the kitchen Since our platoon was on duty today.

To those who don't understand: daily in the camp, a platoon is chosen to be on duty (which entails housekeeping, mini lawma work lol, kitchen duty, security post jobs and etc) and every member of the platoon takes part in this by joining a group that does one of the tasks. This helps to complement the efforts of officials and available help that's insufficient for the community.

Meanwhile, AY's bunky told me while we went for breakfast about the OBS tryouts later in the evening and I informed Greg and AY via text since it was now difficult seeing these guys outside our room and the parade ground. So while others went for the lecture of the day, those of us on afternoon kitchen duty stayed back in the kitchen to work. I was actually glad to skip anything lectures for now lol. So here we were in the kitchen separating and tearing up nylons for eba wraps lmao. While we were at this, I took part in gisting on various topics with my platoon guys and we had a swell time to the annoyance of the kitchen folks. That was where I even met Kele, who later became head of OBS editorial in camp.

Lunchtime came and we wanted to leave and these kitchen women said we shouldn't try it, that we're serving/coordinating lunch too . Walahi I was vexed kai. Imagine toasting babe back in mami only for you to be the one scooping kpomo for her .
I knew it, my village people finally located me . You need to see AY laughing and taunting me when he came and saw me, even though I wasn't among those serving the meals. And you can't even run away from these things because they'll take your tag from you and until you finish what you're asked to, you ain't getting it back. We later finished sha and got extra meal for our efforts . Not bad abi

So later that evening, I located the meeting spot for the OBS tryouts and I met only Greg and he said AY and Tola weren't interested anymore hence they didn't show up. The 18A guys who were supposed to pick new recruits began introductions, asked questions and the rest. Lemme mention that the crowd here for OBS tryouts was close to 50 and these guys don't even need upto half of this number. So they mentioned that they'll start screening guys out from the next morning where we're all supposed to come out and help setup the public address system for morning parade by 2am.

FREAKING 2am

So we are supposed to crash by 10:30 and wake up 3.5 hours later because sey we wan join OBS. While I was still trying to figure this out in my head, others were murmuring my thoughts out but Greg did the unexpected.
He stood up, raising his both hands and said,

"oga o don't be offended, but I cannot fit do am. As in, my body cannot fit do it".

While we were reeling in laughter, my G took his jungle boots (which he took off) and started walking back to the hostel.
When we finished from the meeting, I rushed back to the hostel to tell everyone in the room about Greg's stunt this evening and we all had a field day laughing while Greg was busy smiling and on his phone. Afterwards I took my bath, went to bed and set the alarm for 1:45am. Since we had to show up at the studio on or before 2am, I had to get up and get ready before them. I had resolved to do whatever it takes go skip parade :-/. Although my alternative isn't looking pretty, I still had to go with it.

(attached below are pictures I took during morning parade by daybreak, pictures of those on sanitation duty and while we served lunch and preparation )

Nice Job Op. Its fun reading ur tales. keep them coming.

nonye6194:



sure

Come and complete your story very interesting.