This scenario reminds me of those days I was in camp.
"Attention!
"Stand right!
Recite the NYSC Anthem...." That was the sound we often hear every morning from the RSM.And all the corps members respond:
"Youth obey the Clarion call
Let us lift our nation high
Under the sun or in the rain
With dedication and selflessness
Nigeria is ours, Nigeria we serve.
...."
First of all what do I mean by a clarion call we as Nigerian students must obey?
A clarion call is an appeal or a person's legal right to serve the nation Nigeria after graduating from the University which is after the first degree which is known as NYSC (National Youth Service Corps). And it last for the period of one year.
Either the person is within or outside Nigeria, is mandatory that you come back to serve the nation. And is usually of two ways is either you are 30 years and above of age that is the only thing that can hinder you from service and such person will be given exemption letter which you will have to tender together with birth certificate for you to be given the NYSC certificate. Most Nigerians that are outside the country usually come back to serve. Some come back to serve so as to experience the fun while others come back mainly because of the certificate attached to it.
Before this clarion call, i went through the mobilization process, online registration and so on after which one or two months later i checked using my phone on their website to know if I've been mobilized or not but the network was congested so I had to go to the café to check. When I got there, I was lucky to have been mobilized I saw my call up letter with my name, the state I was posted to and camp address on the call up letter for easy location.
On the call up letter, I was given three days to be in camp. While in the mood of preparation I went to the market to get my buckets, detergent, beverages, water bottle, white vest, white shorts, white socks, and white shoe that I will be interchanging with the one I will be given in camp because that was what we wore throughout our three weeks stay in camp.
When I got to camp, the first thing I did was to go through my registration process so as for them to give me registered camp number such as 1609 whereby the last number 9 stands for the platoon I belong. So with that each time we are on the parade ground, I go straight to my platoon.
I use the pronoun 'we' because there were thousands of students that were posted to that same camp. Likewise others
were posted to different states across the 36 states of Nigeria.
It was fun being in camp. I see it as a way of getting to meet people from different states irrespective of their tribes and religions. It is also a way of forming unity and oneness amongst Nigerians.
The mode of posting corps members is done in such a way that you do not serve the nation in your state of origin or in the state where your institution is domiciled except on the ground of sickness, marriage and some other few instances where the affected individuals are posted to their preferred states. The purpose of posting the corps members to the states other than those they've visited is embedded in the ability of the youths to preserve and pass the cultural heritage of the people of Nigeria to the next generation.
The strength of the nation lies in our diversity but the ignorance of our diversity has successfully put us apart over time instead of uniting us. Hence, corps members are posted to different parts of the country to create awareness about our diversity, learn and teach our culture from and to other tribes within the nation.
One thing I dislike about camp was that I don't get to sleep the way i like because once is 5am, the sound of the bugle will be the one to wake me up and I didn't find it easy because as of then, we were in the rainy season so the weather was always cold in the early hours of the day I had no option than to bath with cold water as early as 5am.
On Friday of the first week, we were sworn in as prospective Corps members and a day to that day, we were given uniform they call 'khaki' or 7/7 which comparises
- Dull green colour jacket
- Dull green colour trouser
- Dull green colour face cap with the NYSC logo on it
- Crest shirt having a combination of green and white colour with NYSC logo on it
- Socks with colour combination of green and white
- Jungle boot
- Belt
These were what we wore on the day we were sworn in. Is either you wear the complete outfit which is 7/7 or 6/7. 6/7 means the khaki jacket will not be included in your dressing.
On the first weekend, a welcome party was held to welcome each and everyone of us into the camp as some will say serving corps members are government children. The second week was for Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (which is also known as SAED) of different kinds such as make-up, bead making, catering, hair making and so on. Is a way of training corps members to be self dependent with the skill we've acquired at the camp.
With the help of this Skill acquisition I was able to learn make-up which am using presently to earn a living.
After the three weeks, we were all posted to different places for our PPA (which means Place of Primary Assignment). It was as if the three weeks camp shouldn't end because I was already getting used to the people around me. But we have no option but to serve our nation.
Not withstanding I sometimes check up on some of my friends through social media platforms.
Am happy to say we are all doing well through the skills we acquired back then in camp.
Thanks for reading.