https://unsplash.com/photos/man-holding-luggage-photo-_g1WdcKcV3w
The whole journey to the North started at my house on a beautiful day. I was checking the NYSC portal and saw my call-up letter. Wow, I've been posted to Taraba State, this was my reaction! My parents felt surprised as well no one in the family had been to North (our immediate family) then my mom remembered she has a relative (her uncle) in Jalingo, Taraba State. She picked up the phone and called. His response was, "No problem. I told you that you are still coming to the North. The North is good." I felt some relief that I would have someone to stay in the North after camping activities. On the day of the journey, I woke up as early as 5 a.m. I got my stuff ready, took a bath and prepared to leave. I packed a lot of things as if I was moving out of an apartment and into another. I packed two traveling bags, a gas cylinder, a laptop, and other items.
I started the journey from Omuo Ekiti in Ekiti East, Nigeria. I had checked the distance from Omuo to Taraba on Google maps earlier, "it's 15 hour journey. I thought I would get to Taraba by night or midnight or midnight.
So, I began the journey around 6 a.m. I reached a place in Kogi State (I can't remember the name now) and took another vehicle from there to Gboko. Upon arrival, I had to pay for a ticket and wait until the bus was full before we could move.
Remember, this is my first time traveling to the North. After almost an hour, the bus was full and ready to go.
After four hours of traveling, we were still in Kogi State when suddenly the car broke down. The driver tried hard to fix it but couldn't, and there was no mechanic around who could fix it. It was almost 4:30 p.m. by this time. It was almost 4:30 p.m. by this time. The driver told everyone that he was going to get another vehicle and we should patiently wait for him. There was nothing I or anyone else could do, so we waited. An hour passed, and I became worried. It was my first journey up North, and I knew nobody, not even my mom's uncle, whom I was going to meet for the first time. I called my mom and told her about my situation. She said there was nothing she could do other than pray for me. So, I sat down and waited for the driver.
Around 6 p.m., he returned with another vehicle. We all got inside and continued the journey. I sat by the driver in the front seat. The driver said he couldn't proceed to Taraba anymore and would stop in Markudi. He advised me to find somewhere to sleep at the park.
I became disturbed. I had never slept in a park before, and I didn't know anyone in Markudi. So, I called my mom again, and she told me to call my sister. I called my sister and explained the situation. She called back after a while and said she contacted her friend, an Air Force soldier serving in Markudi. The friend, however, no longer served in Markudi but promised to connect me with someone else after speaking with her on phone. By this time, I was already in Markudi, and it was past 9 p.m. I was there with my luggage, all by myself. A few minutes later, the lady called back to say she had contacted an Air Force guy and sent me his contact. I called him, and he asked me to come to the Air Force Base, saying he would meet me by the gate. He advised me to take a keke (tricycle).
I boarded a tricycle, but a few meters from the Air Force Base, the driver stopped, saying he couldn't go beyond the point, no one can actually. I had to drag my heavy luggage by myself. After a while, the Air Force guy came and took me to his apartment where I spent the night.
The following day, he took me to the barrack gate, and I took a keke to the park. I arrived at the park a little before 7 a.m. and didn't have to wait long before finding a vehicle. Before we departed, I spotted a guy selling phone accessories. I went to him and asked if he had a memory card, which he confirmed he did. I needed a memory card for my new phone. To cut the story short, I managed to negotiate the price to ₦1500 for a 32GB memory card. I was very excited to get it as such a low price. Thereafter, we proceeded with the journey, and I discovered that some of the passengers were also corps members going to the same camp.
After a while, we arrived at the camp, the other corps members alighted from the vehicle. It was past 4 p.m. I didn't stop at the camp because I was going to my mom's uncle's place to drop my luggage. I got the park in Jalingo. It wasn't far from my mom's uncle's place, so I didn't wait long before he came to pick me up in his car. Upon reaching his house, the first thing I did after arranging my luggage was to test the memory card I bought. To my great surprise, it didn't work. I had wasted ₦1500. Well, it's all part of the journey.
Thanks for Reading
Image by Mantas Hesthaven