My NYSC experience 5

Looking back at the service year,the question that would surely pop up in one's mind is this; was it worthwhile? how did the experience impact my life?,if I could go back in time would I make the same choice to serve Nigeria?? Is there hope for Nigeria??

Established in 1973 to promote national unity and develop common ties among Nigerian youths,the present NYSC scheme definitely has its flaws.The deployment process is far from being random,youths pay fees for registration , the camps are horrific and no where near the minimum living standards for human beings. Almost all youth corpers get posted to schools(now even professionals, I know a dentist who got posted to a school!),the monthly allowance is nowhere near being adequate for survival and most state owned establishments treat youth corpers like slaves making them work harder than permanent staff with either pittance or no additional  pay at all.
Amidst these shortcomings however,I cannot help but admire how much it brings youths from different parts of the country together,how much it benefits rural communities ,  how it granted me the opportunity to experience first hand the hardship faced by the average Nigerian for a year despite my 'comfortable' background. I now more than ever fully understand what It means to be unable to eat whatever you feel like whenever u feel like, live without basic amenities like pipe borne water and power,also not having any spare income by the next pay-day. This experience for me is invaluable because it enlightened me about the true state of the country.
Nigeria is a huge mess right now,my NYSC experience has taught me that our country's problem stems well beyond the government. Nigerians are EVIL.(i'm sorry to have to say this but it's the bitter truth). In fact I strongly believe it's the best people that get into government seeing the level or wickedness and corruption at the grassroots. Common Nigerians might not be stealing billions as they chastise the leaders for doing but judging from unfaithfulness in 'little things' all i'll say is just give them the opportunity,almost all would do the same and even worse than our present leaders.
I found my NYSC experience very rewarding personally and I believe the scheme should continue,however a whole rejuvenation must be done.The deployment process must me made completely random and transparent . All camps must be scrapped and fully rebuilt to comfortably accommodate a fixed number of corpers,PPA allocation should be more meticulously done and diversified (in no parallel universe should a dentist get posted to a school!) I also feel the allowance should be reviewed and increased by at least 100%. 
There is hope for a better Nigeria but majority of the populace have to make a stand in unison to do what is right in all situations at all costs and say 'NO!'to wickedness (which I believe is the true problem). Until this happens however I can confidently say that no government,no strucure and no amount of prayers can make Nigeria great.
The problem is us and the solution also rests with us,till we realise this the vicious cycle will continue .


The End.

My NYSC experience 4

  Financially my stay in kaiama was hell,I had never been a prudent spender and the transition from the glory days of housemanship to the sorry days in kaiama was very steep owing to an 81.25% pay-cut. NYSC allowance of N19,800 and a further N10,000 assistance by his excellency the Emir  (king) of Kaiama was my fixed monthly income.
Our appeal to the state ministry of health as medical personnel posted to a state owned facility was met with assurances of pay.I was made to understand that the state pays N44,000 to corper doctors monthly and that efforts were in the pipeline to commence our payment.That pipeline however never saw the light of day as kwara state never paid us a kobo throughout our 11 months of duty.God bless the kwara state government.
  I will remain ever grateful to the Emir of Kaiama,who never faltered in his promise and ensured that a fully qualified,able bodied medical doctor did not go hungry in service to his great nation.Towards every month end I would beckon on the corper pharmacist Abdil(who was also a beneficiary of Emir's help) as he was conversant with the Emir's palace staff saying: 'Is the Emir in good health?' which in plain words meant my pocket was running dry and i was looking forward to his booster infusion.God bless him.(not like kwara state governments blessings though!).
  Food was however very cheap, so was booze and all i really had to worry about was fueling my car at a rate as high as N200 per liter at some point with some other maintenance related expenses as well.All in all I was surprisingly comfortable although every now and then I needed the good old fashioned loan from Abdil my 'Bank of Kaiama'. I was also occasionally buoyant enough to lend friends money so even though it was tough for me by the end of the service year I had been transformed from the extravagant doctor to a much more prudent and strategic spender.This was one of the real positives I gained from the NYSC scheme.


Although my transformation and present monetary ethics may seem pretty impressive to me I was nowhere near a past corper; The Corper-legend of Kaiama. Hot debates still emerge till this very day whenever his topic is raised.One school of thought among corpers say he's a mere myth and never existed another proportion of corpers claim he actually did,insisting he was among the 2015 batch A corps members and his identity had to be kept secret.Weather or not he really walked the streets of kaiama in an NYSC vest and green khakis,one cannot but marvel at the story of his amazing financial feat. It is one mere mortals like myself can only dare to imagine.
  Rumour had it that this legendary corper,despite earning only N19,800 monthly was able to save up N15,000 every single month of his stay and had an astonishing N196,000 in his bank account on the day of his passing tout parade(POP).The sacrifices he had to make however to achieve this goal are out of this world.
It was said about him that as a first rule ,he never spoke to ladies.The regular 'Hello','hi' was all the business he had with them.This singular action is estimated to have helped him save about N4,770 of the N15,000 he set aside every single month. Rumour also had it that he never,ever took a commercial bike (usually costing N50) for transport.His two strong legs must have covered well over 250km every month.I suspect this kept him fit and healthy(although he collapsed on several occasions).
  As for food,he practiced a closed diet,no snacks,few fruits if any at all,indomie,garri and bread(at least a day old) was the order of the day.A corper friend of mine even claims he was seen eating at a road side food vendors once,his choice of 2 wraps of pounded yam with no 'animal(fish or meat)' was said to be striking.Pure water was a waste of precious money for him and believe you me he was said to have never ever bought a single sachet with his hard earned 'Alawee' throughout his stay.
  I could go on and on about this genius but i would have to write a different book to capture the full depts of his record breaking lifestyle.

My NYSC experience Part 3

Time heals even the deepest of wounds,this was quite evidently the case for me. Within three months of that 8 hour trip to kaiama  (the place of rest) I had accepted my fate and fully settled down.
Most,if not all my wears were here now,I had my car fully repaired and rid of all damages inflicted by my trip,work had commenced at PPA and I was deeply in the process  of getting to know more about my novel environment.
Kaiama is a small town and capital of the kaiama local government area.My first impression was that of a very quiet place with peace loving and kind hearted inhabitants. Early positives included the fact that pounded yam,one of my favourite dishes is indeed the most widely consumed meal in kaiama and really cheap to get,even though it was very often served along side unsavoury, unhygienic and impoverished soups the food vendors  churn out on a daily basis.It didn't take much time to adjust to the food though and to my amazement I fell in love with the locally made cheese 'wara'
A long narrow tarred road divided the town in half so to speak,spanning its full length and having all the major offices on each side.There was our beloved corpers logde on the right and the NYSC secretariat directly opposite it.The Bank,Local government office and other prominent shopping complexes also flanked the main road,leading up all the way to a roundabout.This roundabout marked the 'end' of kaiama for a good number of corpers,however for the enlightened few it was our get-away zone for kaiama 'nightlife'.
It was popular talk among corpers that everywhere in kaiama was trek-able meaning that one could easily walk to wherever one wanted to go.I would agree with this assessment actually but the scorching hot sun was a major deterrent for me and i preferred to go  places on four wheels. Five minutes was the time for me,no matter where i wanted to visit in the town i would get there in less than 5 minutes,this made kaiama seem even smaller to me and i likened it to one big playground.
In this playground,corpers accommodation had different fancy names.We had Commissioners lodge,Aso-Rock Villa,White house lodge,Opposite White house lodge,Presidential lodge,Family House(NCCF) and Las Vegas lodge(my personal favourite).
I liked to imagine each lodge as a unit and each unit having one personality even though this was merely a broad generalisation. So for me Commissioners lodge was home to the party people(who loved to dig it), Aso-Rock Villa was 'FBI' kaiama zonal office,White house lodge-the exclusive lodge for the elite (which included our L.G.I),Opposite White house lodge-Peacemakers nest,Presidential lodge- Kaiama Gossip headquarters,Family house-abode of saints and Las Vegas lodge-where the most sort after corper chicks in kaiama proudly resided.

To be continued...

My NYSC experience Part 2

'Who is that??' I thought to myself as I looked across to the far end of the field. She was fair-skinned smoking hot ,had a face that said 'Segun,come and get to know more about me'. Her black and brown dreads made sure she was conspicuous enough to get spotted by searching gazes from a whole lot of guys asides me so there and then I knew I had work to do to win this damsel's heart at least for the three week period in camp.
It was that time of the year again and NYSC camps all over the country would be buzzing with activity. Batch B 2015 corps members had resumed camp. The excitement in the air was palpable as youth corpers in my camp(Yipata kwara state)scampered to settle down. Registration was over now and we were being assigned to dormitories. The average dormitory at Yipata is a densely populated,quite chaotic area jam packed with bunk beds.bags,baggages and personal belongings could also be seen scattered all over the place in a hostel that looked more like an indoor refugee camp. Proper ventilation was a mirage and most hostels had no fans to ensure we felt the full heat of being the newest corpers in town during the day. Nights were cold as ice though but the mosquitoes kept us uncomfortable in heats stead.
I considered myself extremely lucky to have been lodged in the dining hall extension,a small space arguably the least populated,coolest male hostel in camp. There was also the fact that the kitchen,where we would pick up meals was just a stone throw away and I would not have to 'travel' all the way across camp for the near-tasteless and grossly unhygienic meals we were offered. 
Everything was a challenge at Yipata,we were woken up very harshly by the soldiers and from the moment you open your eyes the hustle is on. It was a struggle to use the restroom(semblance of a restroom)each morning,get water to bathe and get to the parade ground early enough to avoid punishment.
Amidst all the travails in camp I would say in my opinion that most people hoped to make new friends,acquaintances and maybe even meet that special someone. I never harboured such hopes actually,all I wanted to do was get involved in as much camp activity as I could. That was the plan,till I met Lynda.Like they say 'life is what happens while you're busy making other  plans'.
As a medical doctor in camp,I expected to be quite well known(and I was) though it didn't help me cross paths with Lynda shortly after I spotted her on the field like I hoped. One way or another a platform for engagement evaded me until one faithful tuesday afternoon.
There she was,standing all alone under a tree close to our lecture hall. I was discussing with some of my new found friends when I spotted her from quite a long way out. At once,possibly owing to a sharp burst of adrenaline and that 'now or never feeling' you get deep down in your gut ,I abandoned the conversation with my friends without uttering a word of excuse and headed straight for gold. I started off quite fast initially,partly owing to fears someone else might get to the finish line before me,then three-quarters of the way towards her great trembling set in.Was I in my right senses? What would I say to her? This had never been my style. It was too late to entertain doubts now however I knew I just had to man-up and flow,there she was with those big brown eyes,pretty face and curious look as I edged in to within five feet of her,I was in her personal space now.'Hi there'...'Hi' she responded with a fraction of a smile which greatly helped ease out loads of tension and let me hit the ground running.
The truth is that when I think back to that day I cannot remember what I said or did but whatever it was it worked like a charm and right before my very eyes our camp 'love' story unfolded. We grew closer by the second at an unbelievably alarming rate,it was mind boggling. In a week rumours had spread like wildfire;one of the cutest girls in camp was now dating a medical doctor. The news drew even more attention to her and not before long other corpers and even camp officials were waiting in line to sweep her off her feet and away from me. This unsettled us for a short while but all the background noise was no match for our new found 'love'.
As customary when having a nice time,the days rolled by at lightning speed and in the twinkling of an eye we had only three days left at Yipata. That was when I got the threat. A camp official 'jokingly'
suggested to me that he would personally make sure our places of primary assignment(PPA) were miles on miles apart. I laughed this idea off and even told him to do his worst,little did I know it was no empty threat.
PPA is the workplace one is deployed to within the state of posting.As always all states have rural areas and urban centres.Corps members generally hope to get posted to the latter(ilorin in our case) and final day in camp is the ultimate moment of truth where everyone finds out his/her PPA in a posting letter issued shortly before departure from camp. 
'Ka...kai...kaima,kai-a-ma' local government mine read.I never heard of such a place throughout my three weeks in camp. Baruten local government was the dreaded dark horse that sent shivers down everyone's spines. To my utmost bewilderment kaiama happened to be in baruten zone. The realization gave a sense of impending doom that almost knocked me to the ground as my feet wobbled.
Lynda on the other hand got posted to the extreme end of the state(offa). 'It's all over' I thought as I took my seat aboard the bus to Kaiama. Indeed it was.

My NYSC experience Part 1

The motorbike finally settled to a halt.'Try and keep him here' I say to chrys while I rushed to pour the four liters of fuel we just purchased into my tank. The commercial motorbike operator(okada man) understood as much English as would be expected of an utter illiterate and we didn't want him running off without ensuring my V6 engine would come back to life and get us out of the huge mess we were in. Chrys had used up all the hausa words he could muster to persuade the bike operator to convey us where my vehicle broke down( strategically out in the middle of nowhere) and he was well in a haste to return to civilization or at least some form of it. Out here all there was to see was the extremely contoured path that should have been the road as far as the eye could see in either direction and thick forests to the left,right and virtually everywhere else.
My Jeep had chosen this spot to breakdown after a relatively smooth trip from ilorin up until this point. The nature of the breakdown appeared as though It had run out of fuel which prompted us to beg a Passer -by to move us further forward to the nearest village(gwaria) in search of a motor mechanic and fuel.
Fuel we got,motor repairer we did not so we decided to take our chances and hope the car would work. The first attempt to ignite the engine after topping up with fuel drained almost all hope of a positive outcome that faithful monday evening. In the same instant the okada man took to his heels not bothering about the fare we were due to pay him or how we were to get out of there given the condition of my car.
Sudden reality set in as we watched him zoom off. We were hence stranded,alone and in very real danger as it got darker by the second.
The route to kaiama from ilorin though rather direct is a quite lonely one for most parts and is made even more intriguing by the fact that you would have to leave Kwara state pass through Oyo state and then reenter Kwara to reach kaiama. Regarding the road,you have what I call the 'honeymoon' Phase 1 from ilorin to somewhere called kishi in Oyo state. This part is what I would describe as a proper road trip with well tarred roads,many road users,road side stalls for food and other travel essentials at many different points along the way.Also if your car was to have an issue like mine did you could get help within minutes because of the volume of commuters.
The same however cannot be said of the legendary Phase 2 the 'real deal'.Spanning from kishi to kaiama. It is by a huge margin the worst road you will ever see(thats a promise). With pot-holes meters deep,very little tar,this part of the journey is so bumpy that folks very often stop and ask to vommit on the way.The roller-coaster effect of leaving one ditch for another,the unbearable dust and the fact that the commercial drivers always fill their tin-can like vehicles to the very brim with human beings makes the journey a dreaded one for travellers.
And for those of us who dare confront the brutal route with our private vehicles,there are always wounds to lick following each trip.
Here we were then,out in pitch darkness in the middle of nowhere. The few cars that had passed were filled to the brim,some even had three passengers in the front seat plus the driver,making four in front (I know you won't believe this but it's very true) and complete four at a back seat that often made passengers puke. We were therefore left with no other option than to sit back and hope for a miracle,else we would we pass the night in the car out in the open. Lo and behold that miracle did happen.
I thought long and hard about what could have gone wrong with my mitsuibishi montero SUV with no answers. I however never relented in my efforts to kick start the engine when I made a ground breaking discovery. Each time I kicked the engine and applied the accelerator shortly afterwards it showed real attempts to work then went off again. Based on this I decided to give the accelerator a continuous pump and to my amazement it worked like a charm. The vehicle roared back to life. Chrys's face was as someone who just had a supernatural encounter.
The car started moving slowly but as I pumped on the gas it picked up. At this point Chrys,an almost free thinking,cool 'badman' I met at the NYSC camp (Yipata) who I am sure never attended any religious fellowship or gathering while in camp was firing prayers on all cylinders. It should have been hilarious to me then but the amount of focus I needed to keep pumping on the gas and simultaneously manouvre the tortuous death trap of a road would not afford me the time to laugh. I strongly doubt if chrys will ever pray as much as he did that night in his entire life.
After much,much prayers from 'pastor' chrys,my dead leg and newly emerging queeks and crackles from my car we finally arrived in kaiama. We made it,we survived the valley of deaths shadow and we were 'home' not clean but safe.
It was past midnight now,we got food to eat and I retired to my room within an hour. On my bed that night I pondered what might have happened to my friend and I earlier that day,we could have been robbed,kidnapped or even eaten by who know what wild beasts the thick forests of kaiama local government had to offer. I thanked God and cracked a smile when I remembered how hard chrys prayed before falling into the deepest of sleep.


Part 2
'Who is that??' I thought to myself as I looked across to the far end of the field. She was fair skinned,smoking hot with a face that said 'Segun,come and get to know more about me'. Her black and brown dreads made sure she was conspicuous enough to be spotted by searching gazes from a whole lot of guys asides myself,so there and then I knew I had work to do to win this damzels heart within my three week stay in camp.


To be continued...