Now? Well, I’m still serving and I’m here to fill you in on the in-betweens. I said enough is enough to cramping a year’s worth of memories into one post when really, there isn’t any gatekeeping.

Some on job applications and staying in the moment…

Have you ever thought about what would happen next immediately after starting something? Like thinking of the next hairstyle to make when the current one has not even lasted the one month you promised yourself. Yeah, maybe not just the little things. I found myself caught in the web of “what next?” when the present was only just unfolding.

What next after NYSC got me in a chokehold. I applied for many internships, a few graduate trainee programmes and some remote jobs.

Maybe the applying itself wasn’t so bad. Maybe it was the intent behind it, the fear and anxiety of reality, the what-ifs, the awareness of the number of skilled unemployed graduates.

One of my colleagues at work is passing out today from the National Youth Service Corps and on Monday, while we were outside the office taking pictures, I asked her what it felt like facing reality. But NYSC itself is part of reality. It was her reality for a year. It was never some fantasy world that suddenly ushers one into the “real world.” That was her response.

On reading…
I have read quite a number of books from the Marriage Monitoring Aunties’ Association by Ola Awonubi which talked stories about a character who, to me, represents women in their fifties still waiting for God’s plan for their lives and refusing to settle because time no longer seemed to be on their side, to The Art of Being Alone by Renuka Gavrani, which talks about using solitude to discover yourself, learning not to be bored with your own company and sitting with your feelings.

I started reading about being twenty last year and this year, I picked up 25 Lies Twenty-Somethings Need to Stop Believing by Paul Angone, where I learned that nostalgia is good but incomplete. Even in the “good old days,” there were bad moments too, so the idea that a particular period was entirely perfect is often just a fantasy. Good old days is one of my favourite lines but now, rather than saying life was good in those days, it won’t do me any harm to say life is still good.

Family time…
I stayed and I’m still staying, with the most loving family. Imagine being told “I love you” and “thank you” numerous times and being given so much food that I’m close to adding 10kg, lol. In all, I’m glad I found a family during my NYSC year.

On bolt rides and jumping buses…

I thought I jumped buses in the university, but I have done even more in the space of seven months. It feels unbelievable, but bus rides were a little comfortable than taking cabs. The cab passengers’ dynamic usually includes four people at the back seat and two at the front. It can be pretty uncomfortable.

I got to learn about “captive audience” somewhere in between. Buses offer a little more comfort and breathing space, but you become a captive audience to herbal medicine sellers who keep singing the goodness of their products until you reach your destination. Now, I’m shuffling between taking buses and cabs depending on how early I intend to arrive at the office.

Although, while on official duty, I get to book Bolt rides, (sometimes with my colleagues), to my destination, but booking rides would make me allawee-less. My salary would definitely not be enough for that.

…

Of course, there is more but I will save it for my future posts. It will be on faith, working a 9–5 but as a hybrid worker, friendship and happenstance.

How are you doing over there? Yes, being mindful of the future is good but don’t forget to enjoy the moment, to bask in the present and I will see you in my next post🤍.

NYSC Registration: How It All Began
I almost did not register for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Batch C because I had plans of either working or interning at a media organisation before service. I did register for it, eventually, thank God for my mum that made me see reasons to do so.
The registration process was not as seamless as I expected. It took a lot of staying awake late into the night as that was when the NYSC portal worked best. Two days before the portal closed, I succeeded in registering. Not everyone got their call-up numbers because a quota was set. Thankfully, I got mine and my call-up letter some days later. The call-up letter was posted somewhat around 2AM and I might have woken up two to three times to check where I was posted to.

Niger Way

When I checked my call-up letter, I saw I had been posted to camp in Niger State. Before then, I barely knew much about the state aside from hearing a course mate often mention Kainji Dam. Naturally, I had questions: Where exactly is Niger State? Is it safe?

Soon enough, I learnt that Niger State has the largest landmass in Nigeria, is located in the North and, very importantly, has plenty of food. I quickly informed my family so we could prepare adequately.

Pre-Camping

Funny enough, I was super excited about camp. Maybe it was because it would be my first time travelling outside my state of residence or maybe it was the thrill of finally wearing green and white.

I packed two pairs of white shorts and vests, two Sunday outfits, nightwear, shoes, bathroom slippers and toiletries, my Bible, cereals, beverages, perfume, groundnuts, some cash, padlocks, a bucket and all my documents. I wrote out a detailed list to avoid forgetting anything. NYSC groups also shared helpful packing lists which I borrowed from.

Journeying Ahead
I arrived in Niger State exactly seven hours after departure. Prior to the journey, PCMs had created WhatsApp groups based on states for easy coordination. When I noticed there wasn’t a group for those haeading to Paiko camp from Ilorin, I created one. All six of us who travelled from Ilorin went straight to camp together because of that group.

Camping Begins

Prepare to drag your boxes and carry your bags from the camp gate all the way to the hostel but not to worry, you may choose to pay some young men offering help.

At the first checkpoint, I made the mistake of asking another PCM for directions and was wrongly directed. I missed collecting bottled water, biscuits, my meal ticket and a slip needed for further registration. I only realised my mistake when I had almost reached the female hostel area near Mammy Market.

Already exhausted from the journey, I met a PCM who later became my hostel mate and kitchen partner. She even reserved a bed space for me, though I eventually chose a lower bunk. I had to trek all the way back to the checkpoint to retrieve my form and refreshments.

In-Camp Registration

After dropping our bags and eating, we proceeded to the multipurpose hall for in-camp registration. The process involved document verification, biometrics capturing, bank account opening, YOMA and U-Report registration, platoon allocation and uniform collection.

My registration began that Wednesday afternoon and continued into the next day. It was quite tasking considering the large number of PCMs.

I also forgot the name of my hostel and entered several hostels before finally finding it. Since then, Shiroro Hostel has been permanently engraved in my memory.

Once you collect your khaki and boots, always confirm your size immediately.

Remember trade by barter in secondary school? Good, you will apply it here. My khaki trousers were way too big and I got someone with a smaller size to exchange with.
Registration continued until Friday as more PCMs arrived from different states.

Camp Uniform

Welcome back to secondary school.

The approved camp wear was white vest on white shorts with white canvas or crocs. As white as doves, literally. Seeing everyone dressed alike during morning devotions or after parade was always a beautiful sight.

However, wearing white wasn’t exactly friendly for females on their periods. Thankfully, the khaki jackets were long enough to cover up just in case.

The Beagle

You remember how in primary and secondary schools, there was a prefect in charge of ringing bells to signal whether it was break time, change of subject or closing time? So also, in camp, there was a soldier dedicated to playing the beagle.

It starts with the call to morning devotions by 5AM, breakfast by 7:30, Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) lectures by 9AM, lunch by 2pm, parade by 4pm, dinner by 6:30pm, social nights by 8:00pm and lightout by 10pm. It is important that you obey the beagle sound and plan your time to fit in to the camp activities. Soldiers are there to help you comply if you don’t.

Morning Devotions

Camp days began with God. I like how camp officials prioritised this. Christians converge outside the multi-purpose hall while muslims gathered at the mosque to pray.

‘On Christ the solid rock I stand...' was a hymn we sang every blessed morning.

Each platoon also delivered short exhortations followed by morning meditation sessions where is expected to ponder on the meditations without clapping. Health talks were sometimes included and by 6 a.m. the national anthem was sung and daily camp schedule were announced.
Morning exercises followed and they were enjoyable with music playing in the background. In fact, I always looked forward to them. It still amazes me how some people managed to hide from all these activities.

OBS
The call for volunteers to serve in the Orientation and Broadcasting Service was made during one of the morning sessions. There is the media department for those interested in capturing beautiful moments, the broadcasting department for those who love to cast the news and the news writing department. I served in the news writing department. I also got to work with other productive and amazing news writers who made service easier. As expected, news writing was the least populated, and I was mostly on duty with only a few days off. We were meant to send in our news reports, at most, thirty minutes after the close of every lecture, social night or sporting activity.
We all got a certificate of participation afterward.
There was also the Red Cross for those interested.

SAED Lectures
Get ready to sit for long hours listening to several speakers delivering lectures on diverse topics from fire safety to drug abuse to motivational talks and several others. The first few days in camp, we purely had lectures. Some days later, the practical aspect of the skill training was introduced. Sitting through those lectures awake wasn’t easy especially on days when pap was served in the kitchen. Most of the lectures were not even boring as I assumed they would be but because they were long and exhaustive, it is only natural to get tired of them. One of the best places to start conversations with anyone is right here. There will be plenty of time to get to know the person as the lectures lasted from 9 Am till 2 PM. 'You smell nice’, 'what school do you attend?’, 'what’s the meaning of your name?’, may have sparked meaningful conversations. I even discovered some who studied same course as me and others who studied very interesting courses.
My joining OBS looked like a disadvantage at first. It meant I couldn’t sleep during lectures or gist too much so as not to miss out on the point being made by the speaker. What did not occur to me then is that my job in my place of primary assignment will be mainly on news writing.
Some corpers actually attended SAED lectures prepared—with sunglasses glued to their faces while some had their caps down to prevent snaps of them sleeping from being captured.

NCCF

Two Christian fellowships were active in camp: the Catholic fellowship and the Nigerian Christian Corpers’ Fellowship (NCCF). I attended NCCF.

NCCF held daily evening services which lasted for one hour and Sunday services that lasted for two hours.

Although I could not attend every evening meeting due to tiredness or OBS duties, I am grateful for the ones I did attend. The Word, drama, prayers and worship were impactful. There was also an Ajuwire night during the final week.

The vibrancy of youths for God is amazing to see. Aside during Jumat on Fridays, Sundays are when you get to wear other outfits before changing back to the camp uniform.

Social Nights
You’ve got talents? The stage is yours to shine. There were individual presentations of raps, comedies and songs. Inter-platoon competitions were the most prominent here. We had cultural dance, idols, drama, Mr Macho, Miss NYSC, Big, bold and beautiful, and more.

Every corper belonged to a platoon and this was non-negotiable. The last number of your state code automatically chooses your platoon. I was in platoon 10, and we often made it to the top five in competitions. We were mostly stuck at five. In our drama presentation, where I was one of the narrators, we got the fifth position.
Platoon 8 was the winning platoon. I particularly like their cultural dance—they gave their all and danced really well.

Inter-platoon competitions
Parade/march past competition was the crown of all other competitions. So much sweat, energy and time was put into parade rehearsals, and it is only okay to look forward to it with enthusiasm. Rehearsals for march parades were actually fun but I became unserious after the recurring body pains I felt in the first few days of marching. I rooted for my platoon regardless.

The synchronised movement of legs as corp members marched was very beautiful to watch. However, the parade ground was not cemented and the dust raised caused some to become breathless before they got rescued by the Red Cross. All those who marched had their noses covered but it was not enough.

While I am not so happy that my platoon didn’t make it to the top three, I am still glad we did not carry the big spoon (reserved for the last position).

The cultural carnival is another beautiful event that occurred on the last Saturday of camp. All platoons embraced diversity by dressing in native attires to showcase the rich tapestry of Nigerian cultures. Cultures on display included: Nupe, Benin, Gbagi, Ighala, Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba and Tiv. My platoon represented the Tiv culture and took third position in the cultural competition.

Man O' War Drills

Get ready to do lots of fun and risky-like exercises. The drills involved climbing daunting ropes, coming out of a sandy channel and other physically demanding activities. Those who could not do it were told from the very beginning to opt out.

Man O’War drills were done platoon after platoon. Corpers are meant to be in their 7/7 that is, your full khaki on. The songs sung by the man O’War officials made the drills even more interesting. We were not allowed to take pictures with our phones as it was commercialised.

The Kitchen

Meal tickets were essential for accessing food three times daily. Meals ranged from bread and eggs to tuwo, eba, pap and beans, to rice and chicken on Sundays.

Mammy Market was always available, but sticking to camp meals helped save money. Surprisingly, the meals sold were not as expensive as we may have heard.

Farewell
It’s not goodbye but see you again…

The days passed on swiftly and the moment to leave eventually came. There were papers pasted on the wall for those who did relocation to other states. If your relocation worked, your name will be among and if not, you’re serving in Niger state. Some cried, others laughed, even jumped upon knowing where they got posted to as their Place of Primary Assignment (PPA). It was a moment of mixed emotions. Abuja corpers later received their PPA letters online.

Extras
Sunsets and sunrises are very beautiful at Paiko camp. There were huge mountains outside the camp, contributing to a beautiful scenery.
There was stable power supply but no places to charge. Money was used to charge at charging booths.
You always have to wear your NYSC cap. Your uniform is incomplete without it.
You can find love at camp, get married and get 500k for doing this. I am truly rooting for you.
Soldiers relaxed towards the end of camp and some people even stayed back during some social nights.

Gratitude
I am grateful for the amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience I got to have in camp.

I am also grateful for meeting really amazing people from different backgrounds. More specifically, I am grateful for:

Perpetual, my day one, hostel mate, educator and obsessive lover of egg. Thank you for always waking me up in the mornings when I sleep through my alarms. Thank you for always checking the meal schedule, you didn’t disappoint Shiroro hostel mates when we needed to know what’s for dinner, lunch or breakfast. How you show up at the OBS studio by 4:30AM still amazes me. Girl served in the technical unit, and her commitment is inspiring.

Emmanuel, chorister, pastor and first class graduate. Thank you for all of those conversations we had. Overall best in initiating conversations, stop saying you are not social pleaseeee. Thank you for keeping seats for Abigail and I before lectures and social nights. Thank you for listening for two during SAED lectures when I am dozing off.

Abigail, CEO of Abby's Closet, I am glad we shared the same hostel and got to walk together in camp— At SAED lectures, on the parade ground, during morning devotions, at the kitchen and literally everywhere. Thank you!

Jobae, anatomist, content creator, social butterfly and overall best in matchmaking. She called me her gallery at some point 'cause I was always taking pictures with her phone. Thank you for being a wonderful person.

Tifola, media girlie and the very first friend I made in OBS. Thank you for being such an approachable person.

Vincentia, catholic, fellow Unilorin graduate and our Tiv cultural dancer. I am really glad our paths crossed. Thank you for being amazing.

Adunoluwa, your coordination skills is topnotch. You did not cut us any slack at our Christmas carol rehearsals and I will be surprised if we did not sing really well at the Christmas carol.

Praise-God, chief medical director and music guru. How do you play the keyboard, guitar and still sing so well? It is a testament of your passion for the things you love. Thank you for always carrying a positive energy around.

Fareedah, first class graduate and community manager. Thank for being friendly and sharing insights on your LinkedIn posts.

Mayowa, nurse and social director. Hats off to you for always pushing the platoon forward.

Ginikachi, my hostel governor and nurse. Humour and sarcasm personified. Thank you for being a wonderful person.

Ife and Biodun, I am glad our paths crossed during the practical skill training. Thank you both for explaining web design and data analysis when I did not understand certain parts.

It is a wrap, guys. Thank you for reading!

The program aimed to expose Mass Communication students to benefits that accompany practising journalism.
The program was graced with the presence of the head of department of Mass Communication, Dr Patrick Udende; a senior lecturer of Mass Communication, Dr. Aisha Omolosho; program facilitator and H.O.D News and Current Affairs department in Radio Nigeria Harmony FM, Rasheedat Oladotun Iliyas; climate, senior reporter and head of Digital Media, Dare Akogun; Hajia Bushrah Yusuf-Badmus, editor, News Agency of Nigeria, and students of the department.

The empowerment program started with the recitation of the first and third stanzas of the national anthem which was anchored by Mrs Rasheed Oladotun.
The first speaker, Hajia Bushrah Yusuf-Badmus, gave her lecture on career opportunities available in journalism including print, broadcast and advertising. She mentioned that practising journalism does not lead to poverty except one chooses to remain in a comfort zone. She stated that a gap exists between classrooms and newsrooms practices.

“If many journalists without formal training in journalism are excelling, how much more the trained ones?”, she asked. She added that this should serve as a challenge and a call for all to step up. She also mentioned opportunities available such as acting as strategic communicators by writing press releases for organisations. She concluded by asking a probing question: “what do you what to do with your certificate?”

The second lecture was delivered by Dare Akogun, a recipient of both local and international fellowships, who spoke explicitly on the topic, “Leveraging media fellowships: Bridging the gap in classrooms.” He admonished students not just to wait for opportunities but prepare for them so that when they eventually arise, students can step into them. He also stated that media fellowship is a fast track to growth but only available for prepared minds.

Akogun also highlighted getting funds for stories, recognition, sponsorships to travel locally and abroad, first class treatments, and networking as benefits of fellowships in the media space. Mr Akogun also emphasized visibility and adaptability as paramount to every journalist’s survival. He advised students to build their portfolios, volunteer, optimise their social media handles to report stories and apply for fellowships to become campus ambassadors.

In concluding the program, the floor was made open for questions which were directed to the guest speakers and answered accordingly. The closing remark was given by Dr. Udende who admonished all students not to let themselves, himself, the department, faculty and the dean, Professor Azeez down. He also encouraged similar future empowerment programs and workshops to contribute in the training of student journalists.