The write up you are about to read are those of Reward Davies, nothing was added or removed by me (Nwachukwu Prince), enjoy his beautiful piece....and Thanks a lot Davies for sharing....
Would
it be awkward to say that I wasn't really excited about the idea of going for
service? Maybe its just me but I felt it was a waste of 1 year. #MyOpinion. So, permit me
to say I went indifferently to camp with no expectations whatsoever. Sad right? Lolz.
It all started when my course adviser and course rep conspired to omit my name for
no just cause from the Batch A list. I was so angry n hurt that I had to spend an extra 6
months at home while my mates were serving. I eventually got my chance though with
the Batch Bs. Like they say, God's timing's the best. I took solace in that. After all the
stress involved with clearance at FUTO which is synonymous with the word STRESS in
my book, I eventually arrived lagos a day before camp opened.
service? Maybe its just me but I felt it was a waste of 1 year. #MyOpinion. So, permit me
to say I went indifferently to camp with no expectations whatsoever. Sad right? Lolz.
It all started when my course adviser and course rep conspired to omit my name for
no just cause from the Batch A list. I was so angry n hurt that I had to spend an extra 6
months at home while my mates were serving. I eventually got my chance though with
the Batch Bs. Like they say, God's timing's the best. I took solace in that. After all the
stress involved with clearance at FUTO which is synonymous with the word STRESS in
my book, I eventually arrived lagos a day before camp opened.
I was posted to
Oyo state though. I was already fatigued from the journey to Lagos from Owerri only to
embark on another to Oyo the next day. I had gotten all the camp stuff I needed so I just
packed, said
my goodbyes to family and friends , then set off for Oyo state.
my goodbyes to family and friends , then set off for Oyo state.
I won't bore y'all
with details of my trip but I sha arrived Iseyin camp safely. We were asked to carry our bags n
buckets on our heads by the soldiers while we queued for room and mattress allocation.
Finally, I got allocated to a very large room which I later learnt was a classroom of some sort. Its was awful,mehn. The bunks were so tightly placed that there was no room for privacy. One couldn't even walk through if someone was standing beside his bunk. You had to sit on the bed for that person to pass. Twas really hell cos the room was literally filled with animals and we were punished almost daily. Twasn't funny at all. On one of the days my bunkmate vomitted on the people down after getting drunk. I still recall being in platoon 1, I didn't really interact much cos I'm so not the extroverted type. Bottomline, camp was hell for me as the environment was condusive at all. I so hated the early morning parades, dodged most of them anyways. I was posted to Tewure gram sch,Tewure at Orire local govt in Ogbomoso. You go fear names na.
Finally, I got allocated to a very large room which I later learnt was a classroom of some sort. Its was awful,mehn. The bunks were so tightly placed that there was no room for privacy. One couldn't even walk through if someone was standing beside his bunk. You had to sit on the bed for that person to pass. Twas really hell cos the room was literally filled with animals and we were punished almost daily. Twasn't funny at all. On one of the days my bunkmate vomitted on the people down after getting drunk. I still recall being in platoon 1, I didn't really interact much cos I'm so not the extroverted type. Bottomline, camp was hell for me as the environment was condusive at all. I so hated the early morning parades, dodged most of them anyways. I was posted to Tewure gram sch,Tewure at Orire local govt in Ogbomoso. You go fear names na.
On our way to the place, the cry babies that
wanted Ibadan succeeded in making the journey tougher for us. They kept
crying,whinning on the phone, pulling sad faces et al. Ridiculous! Finally, we arrived orire quite
late only to be welcomed by loud, offensive music from the corpers already there. It got me
really vexed cos I couldn't really hear the instructions passed by the LGI. Well, I
and some other otondos were taken to the corpers lodge of Ikoyi-ile local govt as it was
too late to take us to our PPAs. The next morning, we were treated to some breakfast and
taken to our respective PPAs for clearance and accomodation issues.
Walahi, as soon as I saw my PPA, I made up my mind I wasn't gonna stay there. Firstly, the place didn't have MTN network, twas dirty and the houses were wack (no bathrooms or toilets). Who lives in such these days? For crying out loud, its 2013. The pricipal was this big eyed, egoistic pretender glad he was receiveing as many as 10 corps members that were mostly guys. We had no idea he would eventually make our stay there miserable. I ended up staying at the corpers lodge @ Ikoyi, some villages away from my PPA not minding the extra transportation cost cos it was the closest to civilization.
Hmmmm, this medium won't enable me do justice to the subject so I'll just cut to the chase. I ended up having a fulfilling NYSC experience cos despite all the awful sides of life it exposed me to, it shaped me into this awesome person I've become today. I made some amazing friends(mehn, they were the best). I became the NCCF papa (what an experience) and the music director of winners chapel, Ikoyi-ile. I also started a french CDS group where I taught corps members french language. Basically, I was fulfilled.
A part of me still longs to return there some day cos I really enjoyed the constant light, water and serenity of the place unlike the incessant hustle and bustle of Lagos. I'm forever indebted to God for seeing me through my service year.
Thanks!
Davies Reward
Walahi, as soon as I saw my PPA, I made up my mind I wasn't gonna stay there. Firstly, the place didn't have MTN network, twas dirty and the houses were wack (no bathrooms or toilets). Who lives in such these days? For crying out loud, its 2013. The pricipal was this big eyed, egoistic pretender glad he was receiveing as many as 10 corps members that were mostly guys. We had no idea he would eventually make our stay there miserable. I ended up staying at the corpers lodge @ Ikoyi, some villages away from my PPA not minding the extra transportation cost cos it was the closest to civilization.
Hmmmm, this medium won't enable me do justice to the subject so I'll just cut to the chase. I ended up having a fulfilling NYSC experience cos despite all the awful sides of life it exposed me to, it shaped me into this awesome person I've become today. I made some amazing friends(mehn, they were the best). I became the NCCF papa (what an experience) and the music director of winners chapel, Ikoyi-ile. I also started a french CDS group where I taught corps members french language. Basically, I was fulfilled.
A part of me still longs to return there some day cos I really enjoyed the constant light, water and serenity of the place unlike the incessant hustle and bustle of Lagos. I'm forever indebted to God for seeing me through my service year.
Thanks!
Davies Reward
@daviesreward on twitter
2 comments:
Cool story...me liky...
What an experience......... May God save us all... Interesting story though!
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