MY NYSC CAMP EXPERIENCE IN SAGAMU, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

 Hello My Dear readers, I'll be narrating my Nysc orientation camp experience in Sagamu, Ogun state, Nigeria. So for anyone who is not familiar with the NYSC. It Basically stands for National Youth Service Corps. It's a 1 year program where youths, typically graduates serve Nigeria depending on their area of expertise or course of study.

Ideally, Youths that enroll for this program can posted to any geographical area of the country for the service year. This is a program that fosters education and tolerance of diverse ethnicities. However, given the current insecurity that Nigeria is facing in recent times, it has become very dangerous to travel to certain parts of the country. So that being said, Youths are wary and cognizant of the fact that their safety comes first and most prefer to serve in the geopolitical zone where they come from.

Long story short, I was posted to Lagos state for my service year and the Lagos state camp was said to be saturated and could not accommodate every single person that was posted there, so some of us were posted to do our 3 weeks orientation in Sagamu.

The orientation camp in Ogun state is notably said to be a 5 star camp. I don't exactly know why this is so, but I personally feel it is due to the fact that they have good facilities in terms of the living conditions and providing basic amenities in terms of food, light and water compared to other orientation camps across the country.

ARRIVAL

I arrived to the camp on the date I was to report according to my posting letter, that was on the 1st of December 2022. It took approximately 4 hours drive, no traffic and you should know I travelled all the way from Ekiti State. It was a very smooth journey needless to say I slept almost throughout and cramps was killing me, was quite a torture.

After we arrived, we got out of the car and there was security in front of the gate. I was super pressed and I needed to use the restroom. My cramps were really bad at this point, I could barely walk and my mum was concerned. The security guys saw us and were like "if you're pregnant you don't need to be in camp". We all exchanged awkward looks and my mum and I laughed. I just told them I wasn't feeling too well and no pregnancy anywhere. My mum was eager to travel back but she wanted to make sure I was okay before leaving.

There was a long queue and we had to take a Covid-19 test before we could be admitted to the camp. My mum being the sharp, charming person she is quickly famz one female officer, can you guess how they bonded, they bonded over coming from the same hometown. She told the officer I wasn't feeling too well so she helped me cut the line. I was directed to the testing area and my mum and I said our goodbyes.

I sat down at the testing area waiting my turn when I noticed, the medical personnel performing the test had not changed his gloves and I've watched him use the same pair of gloves for at least 5 people. It didn't sit well with me as a Doctor, Your gloves should be changed with every patient, else you are just exposing people to unnecessary risk and infections. As my own turn approached, I called his attention to it, like I'm not going to let you touch me with those gloves, you have to change it before you administer my test.

He seemed surprised and apologized, he changed his gloves immediately and asked what course I studied. Medicine, of course and he was like no wonder, there was a brief introduction and he seemed friendly. The test wasn't so traumatizing given I've been through it a couple of times. After the test, we have to wait to get our results before we could be admitted to the camp. We waited for at least 15-30 minutes to get the results. The results was negative, Yayy! That gave us the pass to go in.

ADMISSION

One thing you should know, I didn't have high expectations for this camp, but I did keep an open mind. The camp was aesthetically pleasing, it didn't look bad at all. As we entered through the gates we met Officers/Officials sitting under canopies of varying distances. They asked for some documents, The call up letter, the results of the Covid-19 tests and some others. After this, our luggage was thoroughly checked. They seized my fork, why? I am not sure but I was told I wouldn't be getting it back till we passed out of camp. We met each official and we were given further directions. We got our room numbers and blocks. I became fast friends with a girl that became my bunkmate. 

After we dropped our luggage in the hostel. We had to go to a multipurpose hall to get registered.

REGISTRATION

We entered the hall and there were long queues, I asked for directions and I was asked to present my certificates, waec, my practicing licence, my full registration. It was more thorough since I was a foreign graduate. I joined the queue with my fellow Lagos corpers. We got registered, it was a long stressful process and it even got to a point, I started asking if serving was worth it. This whole process took between 2-3 hours. Then we got assigned to our platoons. I was in platoon 6. There was a lot of shenanigans and time wasting here too, we spent around 1-2 hours here. We got our Nysc kitt which consisted of 2 low quality white T-shirts, a cap, a low quality crested vest, the khaki pants, white tennis shoes and the orange jungle boots. And all poorly fitted I must say, even though we filled in our sizes on the portal, they paid no mind to it and gave us whatever. I'm a size 39/40 and I ended up with size 45 for both shoes. Everyone just found a corner and started trying their shoes and clothes on. No one was happy with what they got. You would think you can make a complaint to get your actual size but no. You had to accept what you were given. so people started switching and clothes with people that had their sizes. I was lucky enough to switch my shoes with a guy that had 41s. Not a perfect fit but I took my win. We got a meal ticket for our food in the kitchen

I should state the reason why the shirts and basically everything we were given was low quality. The shirts were see-through, got slack and became shorter the more you washed it, so by the end of camp you see some people in a shirt that has become a crop top. The Khaki had loose seams, some ripped and jungle boots fell apart. 

THE ROUTINE.

The routine was fairly simple. Ideally, by 5:00am you should be awake and leave the hostel to go to Mosque or the parade ground for praise and worship but in reality, it wasn't so simple. I had eccentric room mates, folks who were way too excited to be in camp. On my first night, I woke up to the sound of buckets, people shuffling, noise, at 3:00am. A lot of people were awake and dressed to my surprise. I turned to the other side of the bed and slept an extra hour, I didn't get the excitement or eagerness. My first night wasn't so cozy. we were 40 girls in the room, with bunk space just wide enough for just one person to pass through. It was hot, I felt like I was suffocating, drenched in sweat. My bed was flat so I could feel the bunk through it. After getting up, I grab a bucket and go out to get water, there was a very long queue. Girls with 3/4 buckets, average of 2 at least. I could guess that there were over 600 girls in this hostel and there were just 3 functional taps, do the math, yeah it's crazy. 

Even though everywhere was squeaky clean when we got to the hostel. The bathrooms and toilets got messed up quickly by people who for some reason just refuse to clean up after themselves and make life difficult for other people.

So by 5, you hear the trumpets, the beagle, The "Wake up" chants by the Man O' War officials as they jog around. We exit the hostel and make our way to the parade ground. we have to Queue according to our platoons. After the praise and Worship, inspirational speech followed by an address by the State Coordinator, and she takes at least an hour. She goes through the rules and regulations on Camp, Teaches us some mantras like "I will enjoy responsibly" to name a few. 

We are told the activities to expect for the day, and every morning people who have their birthdays are called out to be celebrated.

After this, we start our morning drills. This is the part I enjoyed the most for the morning activities because it was really fun and engaging. There is music, we do some exercises and just follow the man o war official. It was the best, after this the soldiers take over and we do parade, marching... I didn't like this, it was stressful.

Once the parade is over we go to the kitchen to get our meals and after then go for lectures. As a doctor, I registered in the camp clinic which is where I spend most of my day. We attend to anyone on camp that need medical attention and for extreme cases, we refer to tertiary hospitals that can handle those cases. I really enjoyed the camp clinic. It was amazing, everyone on the team was cool. I made friends, we hung out in the camp clinic most of the time.

The camp clinic was my saving grace in camp, it helped me escape the hectic parades under the sun. It was a safe place.

EVENTS

There were a couple of events to look forward to camp, the platoons were given different tasks and activities and there was competition. The memorable ones for me were the cultural day, My platoon had to represent the Efik tribe, the attire was so colorful. It was nice to see different ethnic groups represented and it was also an opportunity to learn about different cultures.

The other events I attended include the Big, Bold and Beautiful which basically celebrated plus sized ladies in all their different shapes and sizes and reinforced the fact that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes.

Another event was the Mr. Macho, basically watched ripped guys show off their muscles. It was very entertaining.

CONCLUSION

Camp was alright, but trust me you are not missing much if for whatever reason you are unable to stay. I personally like the fact that I made new friends and connections. Some people found love and some got opportunities they might never have had if they weren't present. Every experience we have teaches us new things, nothing is wasted. For the Ogun State camp, is it really a five star camp, in my opinion it is more of a 2.5/3 camp.

If you are reading this and about to go off to camp soon. I hope you go with an open mind and have fun, I also wish you a safe return to your family.