Serving My Fatherland: The Pains and the Gains by Adedoyin J.

In less than two months, my service year will be over. When I was mobilised in June, I felt like this year would be one hard and long journey, especially with the fact that I was being posted to Iseyin. I know Iseyin is not so bad as compared to other locations but I didn’t want to leave Lagos. Even with that lingering thought, I was determined to ‘overcome’ NYSC, if I may use that word.

So there I was, armed with tons of information about how to survive in camp and ready to take on what I considered to be a new challenge, I set out to Iseyin. I don’t know how to describe my experience in camp but I definitely don’t want to do it again. I survived by being active. I am a workaholic you see, so I joined as many groups as I could so I wouldn’t be idle. From working with the OBS to being a part of the social committee, I always had my plate full and I wanted it that way. After camp, I moved on to the next phase of my service year which involved settling down in my primary place of assignment (PPA) and my host community in Ibadan.

I remember the first time I went to my PPA, the legal department of Egbeda Local Government, I was quite sad. I thought to myself, “Is this how I am going to spend the next 11 months; being completely idle?” It is general knowledge that there is no work to be done in most local government offices but Egbeda LG is peculiar. Not only is it located in the outskirts of Ibadan, the workers there are set in their ways. To say that the LG is behind in office technology would be an understatement. I had to think about how to make the most effective use of my time there. Since I had already ruled out the option of redeploying back to Lagos, I needed to think of something fast. 

Ten months down the line, have I succeeded in my quest? Have I conquered NYSC? I would say one thing here before I continue, it is easy to lament about how poorly the NYSC scheme is being run but it takes a level of doggedness to have a fruitful service year. I was determined. I started with my CDS group. Being a writer and an active member of the OBS back in camp, I automatically joined the Editorial CD group. There, I gave my all in terms of skill, time and energy. I remember one particular edition of Oyokopa and Periscope (these were the publications we were in charge of producing) where I single-handedly edited close to 40 articles in less than two weeks. I gave back in the best way I could. I trained my CD members on writing and editing and even linked some with job opportunities. There wasn’t much I could do in my PPA and that’s not because I didn’t try. I had written a proposal to train the staff there in various skills but it wasn’t taken up. I sensed some reluctance by the head of the LG so I just left the matter there. 

Although I had nothing to do in my PPA, I learnt several things. I saw one of the reasons why Nigeria can’t move forward. It’s a grassroots problem; this lackadaisical attitude and addiction to the status quo. You know the ‘this how things have been done’ mentality. Unfortunately, my generation who are supposed to be the leaders of tomorrow have already started adopting this mentality. Some of my ‘corper’ colleagues just preferred to be idle instead of making good use of their time. As sad as the situation was, I was determined to work hard; to always put in the effort to set the ball of change rolling whether or not the results were immediate. I tried this with my CD group and tried to bring some changes to the way the publications were produced. 

I am proud of where we’ve been able to take our publications to as a team. I also learnt that your success in life depends on you. It’s not that I didn’t know this before but it was emphasised on many occasions in the course of my service year. Yes, the government has to provide an enabling environment but what if they don’t? Does that mean you will not even try to succeed? The Nigerian youth face very huge challenges but in spite of this, it is still possible to be successful. Working with my former employer showed me this. I met a lot of young people who are taking giant strides in various sectors despite the many stumbling blocks in their paths. So we have no reason not try, at the very least.

Looking back at my service year, I am thankful for a lot of things. I got to see life through the eyes of an average Nigerian. Despite how hard things are in this country, I saw men and women strive to make a living and retain a sense of humour. In the scorching sun and under the heavy rain, I saw people just trying to survive; from my ‘customer’ at the market to the bike man, the story was the same. Sometimes I was moved to tears by the situation but I strengthened my resolve to be part of the solution not the problem.

I am thankful for standard of living that I have lived thus far. I am also thankful for the growth I experienced in my spiritual life. Thanks to my family at Global Harvest Church Bodija, I had a home away from home. I went deeper in God’s Word and had a reaffirmation of my purpose. I experienced God in a new way and that enabled me to overcome the challenges that came my way.

I am excited, in fact very excited, that NYSC is almost over but I more excited about the next phase of my life. Due to my commitment and contributions, many opportunities have come my way. As I exploit those opportunities, I will have before me the picture of those helpless children hawking because their parents could not afford to pay their school fees. I know I might not be able to help every child but I want to make a difference, one child at a time.

So cheers to the future. This girl is good to go. Thank you NYSC, thank you Egbeda LG, thank you Global Harvest Church….and thank you Lord!

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Adedoyin (Left)

Adedoyin Jaiyesinmi is a business analyst and brand manager with a natural flair for writing and content development. She has written for various publications including Y! Magazine (now Y! Africa), Pride Magazine Nigeria, Butterscotch magazine amongst others. Presently, she consults for small businesses in the area of strategy and branding and provides editorial consultancy services to magazine publications and blogs. She lives in Lagos but is currently serving in Iseyin, Oyo State.

'The Camp Experience' As Told by Seun A.

So my sister had just concluded NYSC and I wanted to know for myself what it was all about and to know just how accurate some of her ridiculous camp stories were. I was quick to realize she’d nailed it. Right from the gate of the orientation camp, the soldiers were eager to make our experience one we’ll never forget. Not in a hurry, I went with my suitcase and some provisions and on getting there, we were made to carry our luggage on our heads, and judging by the appearance of mine, it would seem that I’d packed for a family of 5. It was intense. I still had a carton of CapriSonne and bottled water that my friend and I thought wise at the time to bring along. Needless to say, we didn’t go back for it.

There were different things that stood out that I can’t forget about camp: There’s the mattresses, some of which could easily be mistaken as blankets at first glance; sharing a room with 37 other corpers with an old ceiling fan that really didn’t do us much good; the fire drill, which we had by like 2 AM (Come on! We could have at least woken up to something more of an emergency than a tame camp fire!); also Commander Captain Ijapa!!! (I could do a whole page on that guy).

The daily routine basically started off with the soldiers' whistles. God knows I could still hear that destabilising sound for about a month after leaving the Orientation Camp. It constantly reminded us to get up and go to bed every day. We’d wake up as early as 4AM (or earlier) to go get water to bathe and were chased out of the hostel by 5AM for morning devotion at the Parade Ground with those same evil whistles. There were also boring lectures in the morning and the hall could barely contain half of us. Later on, Skills Acquisition was also introduced, which was a plus. In the evenings, we had parades where we’d basically just practice how to march for our final day in camp.

Camp wasn’t all bad though. I did meet some cool people along the way and the Man ‘O War drill was fun and challenging, even though I had to take my Khaki trousers for ‘amendments’ more than once. Mammy Market was also one of the good things about Camp. It was always a busy and packed place (until the whistles were blown, that is) whether for eating, dancing, or just for having a good time, you know, hanging with friends or the guy/babe you’re ‘tracking’.

Camp usually lasts for three weeks. During the first week, there was a welcome party. That’s where I suddenly had a paradigm shift. The concept of youths being chased to a party tends to bring about that. We were also assigned to platoons and had duty rosters. I got Platoon 3. The second week was basically just long, then in the final week, most of the fun happened; from drama and dance competitions, to running track, football and volleyball. Then there were also the award shows for Miss Bold and Beautiful, Mr. Macho and Miss NYSC, and to wrap it all up, the Bonfire Night.  All great stuff! I can’t forget to mention the Talent Hunt Show. I was a proud contestant, attempting to serenade the crowd with my rendition of Wande Coal’s ‘Ololufe’. I did alright. I know this because although I didn’t make it to the semis, there were no chants of ‘Away! Away!!’ during my performance, which is more than I can say for most of the other contestants. Cruel World.

                   

Camp was a really new experience, one I’m grateful for. I think it made me tougher. But if I had to do it all over again, that would be as cruel as it gets. On getting out of camp, the real service started. I was posted to AUMTCO, an urban transport company for my PPA and assigned to the Legal Aid CDS, where I work for N10,000 a month, which is below minimum wage. But it comes to N29,800 a month  (NYSC allowee included). Some aren’t paid at their PPAs so I’m grateful. Corper credit alerts have become music to my ears, might I add.

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Seun Alabi is a Mechanical Engineering graduate of Covenant University. He enjoys singing and writing, especially songwriting. He lives in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State but is currently serving in FCT, Abuja.

My NYSC Progress Report - Osaretin A.

I stare in disbelief and despair at the indecipherable display on the screen of my Kindle e-reader. Apparently, I have somehow managed to put undue pressure on the screen during one of the many occasions I have shuffled it between my PPA, St. Patrick’s College, Asaba, and my aunt’s house, which I will call home for the rest of the service year. And just like that, one of my few safety nets, an incredibly eclectic library of over 900 books which would have helped significantly to protect my sanity in this droll, depressing Sodom of a city, has been lost. Yet another thing goes wrong for me here.

Things have been fairly hellish in this place for the past 4 or so months. Almost literally hellish actually, considering the quite frankly farcical levels of heat we see in this place. The sun has an ax to grind with everyone.  From the moment you step outside of the shade, it’s baring its teeth at you, and it feels like the sun is trying too hard to convince you it’s hot.

I had high hopes for Asaba. It’s the capital of an oil rich state. You’d have to assume it’d be buzzing with activity, a place where the big industry men and “oil rigs chicks” would come to play over the weekends after spending the week hustling for the money in Warri and Sapele. And on first sight, I was almost suckered in. 

The major roads are all pretty good, with streetlights that actually work. Beautiful houses lining side streets and supermarkets at just about every other building. My PPA was just handed back to the Catholic Church after being in control of the government for years, and so it has a beautiful new building and very few students. And I thought I’d hit something close to a jackpot. Besides the time I thought I could attempt to cook stew without burning the pot, I highly doubt I’ve ever been so wrong about anything in my life.

There is never light. I don’t mean that in a whiny way, like I don’t get enough light to be able to play games or watch TV as much as I want. I mean there’s never light. If we did not have a generator, every single thing in the freezer would spoil. If the gods have elected to smile upon you that day, you might get 3-4 hours of light, spread out in random one hour periods throughout the day. Probably when you’re not home. If the gods have decided to smile AND pat you on the back, two of those hours would be between midnight and 2am, so you get to sleep off with AC. However, the gods here frown a lot. So we’re usually sleeping without light. Dealing with heat and mosquitoes.

I think the mosquitoes deserve their own paragraph. Much like Disney and their endless parade of child stars, the mosquitoes here seem to have been manufactured in some factory by some shady evil corporation, just so you can buy the insecticide they sell. I swear they are resistant to Baygon, probably bathe in the stuff. And they’re big fat mosquitoes. The kinds of mosquitoes that would require two seats if they ever sat on a plane. I’ve had few more terrifying moments in my life than looking at my laptop screen while watching a movie in the dark, just to see the silhouettes of three mosquitoes the size of dragons flying towards me in battle formation. Next time I spray this house, I’m using holy water and a sword.

There’s nowhere to go, nothing to do. Your social options are limited to drinking somewhere, eating fast food, or watching soccer at a viewing center, one of which I know uses one of those really big billboard sized screens used for advertisements to broadcast most EPL matches. Which I guess is kinda cool. But with me being a teetotal, and Man Utd turning all my soccer experiences this season into heartbreak, I can’t even find solace in those. This would be tolerable if there was at least light so you could stay home and watch stuff and play games and sleep in a cool room. That’s far too much to ask though. 

Things are too expensive here. Everything seems to have been hiked up by about 30-50 Naira from the prices I’m used to, on small day to day goods anyway. Housing is crazy expensive too. My friend’s house, which I swear to you is smaller in its entirety than my bedroom in my aunt’s house, costs her 150k a year. Which is a discount because the owner saw she was a corper and had pity on her.

I could go on, but I elect to stop here. I’m stuck in a town where the sleeping hours have become the most dreaded part of the day. How bad is your life when sleep, which should be sweet relief, is now something you fear? I’ve woken up in the middle of countless nights, sweating and slapping at myself, tears hanging on the corners of my eyes, praying the sun is ready to rise, teeth bared, and scorch us again. At least the sun doesn’t buzz annoyingly in your ears. Instead of the government to try to fix the light problem, they’re spending copious amounts of money to build an utterly needless overhead bridge over a roundabout that barely even has any traffic. 

NYSC has not been the most pleasant of experiences so far. There’s 5 months or so left. I sincerely hope something changes in that time. Until then, I’ll probably head back to the Sizzler’s fast food place where I saw many girls going all dressed up like they were going clubbing; jeggings, short tight dresses and skirts, heels. (How sad is it that a fast food joint is what counts as an outing). Maybe it’s for the best if I meet them there sha. Meatpie is cheaper than Hennessy. 

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Osaretin Akenzua is Mechanical Engineering graduate of the University of Maryland, U.S.A., but has always had a passion for writing. He lives in Benin, Edo State but is currently serving in Asaba, Delta State.


#UnderTheSunOrInTheRain.

First post: Welcome!

Hello everyone,

I AM BLOGGING AGAIN!!! Whooop! *I know you're excited :P*

Since completing my NYSC programme, I have had quite a number of people ask me, "So, are you still gonna be blogging?" I was never able to figure out a definite answer to the question, even though a few continuity plan ideas had come up. Then recently, I realised that the end of my service year didn't have to mean the end of blogging for me.

I meet several people everyday who are either just about to serve or currently serving. The conversations I have with them and the love I've come to develop for blogging are reasons why I made the decision to start this blog. For now, underthesunorintherain (if you've served, you'll get it. If you haven't and have plans to, then you'll soon understand) will be a space solely dedicated to 'the NYSC experience', where people can share stories or rant about any and everything NYSC from morning drills, camp love stories, delays in 'allowee' payments, to the entire service year in general.

I am super-excited about this project. I already have some great stories coming in, hehe :)


Enjoy!

PS: Feel free to send in your NYSC stories if you would like see them published on the blog.


Peace. Love.