It's another day of the new week and I trust you all are doing great.
I promised to share the journey of my NYSC (National Youth Service Corps) as an experience I know you would find interesting so let's dive into it 😊.
I'm a Nigerian and as a graduate from a tertiary institution in Nigeria, you must undergo this one year compulsory service as long as you are still under the age of 30 or exactly 30 as of the date of graduation but whoever is over 30 will be issued an exemption certificate. The service has 4 phases which are
- Orientation camp
- Primary Place of Assignment (PPA)
- Community Development Service (CDS)
- Passing Out Parade (POP)
To start with, I was originally deployed to Akwa-ibom state and considering the fact that I was not prepared to move far away from my family, I considered trying to apply for a redeployment but to where exactly in the southwest and how, I didn't know yet.
Camping in Akwa-ibom was fun, we had the early wake up call from the military men's trumpet 🎺 everyday aside Sunday that sounds like hell 😭😂. You know the sleep at around 4am or 4:30 that you find solace in but you can't get it no more in NYSC orientation camp. Different activities during the 3 weeks, from parade practice to drama and cultural night to carnival day up till the last day in camp which would always seem like not leaving the camp anymore.
I remember my platoon (Platoon 2, as various corps members were divided into groups and each groups called Platoon) won 2nd place for the carnival as we displayed and perform the Yoruba culture of traditional marriage. Platoon 9 was always referred to as ritualist Platoon because it had rich corpers as members and they would always do what we call dorime and odogwu(celebrating in grand style, either winning or losing and I think that's the secret to being happy. Celebrate not when you win alone cos even when you lost, you gave it your best too. It just didn't work). In short, camp was fun and leaving the camp was the end of the first stage and not to forget, my redeployment application to Oyo state pushed through and I was posted to Ibadan in Oyo state.
So, the journey started to the second phase of PPA where a corp member will serve for the remaining period of 11months in the 1 year service of which I was rejected at a private school which I was posted to because they no longer want corp members but as luck would have it, I got reposted to a Non-profit organization that deals with maternal and infant healthcare in Nigeria ensuring that there is reduction in the maternal and infant mortality rate. I love things that has to do with children so I was glad with my PPA reposting.
A picture of two of my colleagues and I
During the third phase which was the CDS where Corp members gather to meet once in a week to discuss and work on projects to develop the community where they're currently serving.
One of the major projects we did then was when we were approaching the general elections in Nigeria and we decided to make a public awareness talking to the general public and changing their myths and misconceptions around voting by not selling their votes and to also go out to vote for a person of their choice and not just because they were paid to.
So lastly, the major project I want to talk about. There is (because I believe the program is still ongoing) a program called National Primary Home-Grown School Feeding Program where all primary school pupils from 1-5 classes are registered and captured on the database of the government in the aspect of this particular program and this is done at every session to register new pupils or update the data of the existing ones.
The most critical part of this project from my end is the local government where I was serving because most of the communities in the local government are critical remote places and visiting some at the start, I got to know that most or almost all of these pupils determined to go to school because of the food they receive in school and that is where I counted the program so important and determined to finish up with all of the schools even when the supposed resources from the government officials in charge to execute the project were not gotten but the desire to ensure that the pupils are happy and coming to school kept me going and finished with it.
Most of these pupils look unkempt and unhealthy especially in the remote areas and it's saddened to see at times but the good part of this school feeding program is that they would at least have a better meal once a day from Monday till Friday.
The water they drink and used in cooking by their mothers or guardians is nothing good to write about but as a kid, you get to be wherever destiny puts you in I concluded. Schools turned to detached and condemned places like the school no longer exist but sadly they still function.
While some whose parents or guardian lives in the rural-urban areas are still fair. They still get to have access to the modern basic amenities from the government unlike the chronic rural and remote areas
The roads to access these communities are so bad and worst part of it is that these communities are so far apart and I have to spend hours on the road to access the schools in these communities. To worsen the case, some of these school may have closed for the day upon arrival due to the fact that the teachers have to travel back to their homes in town 🤦 so money and time spent on that day to those schools are wasted and the government or let's say the officials in charge of the resources for this program didnt find it right to disburse the resources financially to aid the movement through these communities and their schools but the happiness I see on these pupils faces kept me going and I had to source for funds from my purse to ensure that I finish the capturing for all the schools in my local government which is over a hundred schools.
At some point I had to permanently have a bikeman that would take me through all these routes for easy access and time management and most times I doubt if I was on my way to getting kidnapped by the bikeman whenever we are in the thick forest if I want to exaggerate.
It was a stressful project but I was glad I embarked on it and also successfully captured them all which would facilitate their food for the next session.
I think at this point I'll have to pen down on my journey during the NYSC program and may continue in the next part 🤗🫶.
All about Humanity
All pictures taken by Me
