General Salute!!

Thank you so much to everyone who left a lovely, lovely comment while I was away.

Now, I am back.

Warning: This is not a personal-style post so do not expect to see me looking chic and fabulous

Not looking pwetty at all :-)

The first two days at the NYSC Orientation Camp at Delta State, Nigeria, were really rough. You’d think graduates would have the self-respect and dignity to not jump the queue during registration. Y’right! Registration was actually the hardest part, with all the struggling, trampling, swearing, cussing, name-calling………..phew!

Registration lasted two days after which the State Governor came to swear us in. He was there again for the passing out parade.

The man on tracksuit is RSM Bello, the assistant Camp Commandant

Learning to march

Practicing to welcome the Governor

So, after  the registration we settled into a routine where we were to be out on the parade ground by 5am “………..under the rain or in the sun…….” There we had morning exercises until 8am when we had breakfast the lectures and seminars on a wide range of topics and issues affecting Nigeria: HIV/AIDs, Crime and Corruption, Banking and Finance, Road Safety, Fire fighting, Drug Abuse e.t.c. The lectures lasted from 9am-2pm daily. The aim of the lecture was to enable us choose a specific field in which we would like to contribute to the development of Nigeria during our one-year CDS (Community Development Service) in the NYSC programme.

The lecture hall

After the lectures we have lunch and siesta then Man O’ War activities start. During the Man O’ War we do strenuous activities like rope climbing, Rop-ladder-hung-in-the-air climbing, climbing of rope-bridges in the air, crawling  through barb-wired thingy e.t.c

A friend from another camp doing his Man O' War. Hey, Charles

 No, we do not learn to shoot guns.

ENDURANCE TREK! We endure trekking about the small village for 5 hours on the last Saturday of the 3-week period. I’m told some people faint. Luckily this time it was scratched because of the religious disturbance going on in the Northern States

After the Man O’War, we have dinner then Social Activities. That’s the fun part. There were Football Competitions, Volley Ball competitions, Dance, Music, Mr and Miss Camp, Miss NYSC, Mr Big, Bold and Handsome, Miss Big, Bold and Beautiful and Mr Macho competitions.

Judy, Ella (by her right), Adaku on the far end of the trio all from Platoon 7

Judy, the winner of the Miss Camp competition. Ella, her make-up artist.

Platoon 3 competitor

Competitors for Miss Camp for Delta State Camp

Now, the sad news……..

I didn’t take photos the way I wanted because L

1.       The Duracell non-rechargeable batteries I took died on me

2.       There were no sockets in the rooms to charge anything ( to prevent fire outbreak) I was told that from the onset.

The Jungle Boots

Hot and Kel, Guys from Platoon 7, The Original Platoon!

 During registration we were grouped into Platoons. There were 10 Platoon and I was in the 7th one. The competitions were inter-platoons and prizes were won.

Now that we’re out of the camp we were posted to various sectors. 85% of Corps members are posted to schools in the rural areas, myself almost included except that Lagos almost does not have a rural area so I am to teach in a school in the city while I do my CDS with FRSC (Federal Road Safety Corporation) Corps Members are paid the country's minimum wage by the federal government for the one-year duration and we are to wear an item of the uniform on CDS Days for easy identification. We are well respected by the general public ;-)

Surviving on camp has a lot to do with your ability to improvise but one thing is certain extra care is taken to make sure no harm comes to any corp member in and out of camp-while on service to the nation.

I’ll stop here so that I do not write a 3’000 word short story. Need to rest, then I'll start catching up on the blogs I've missed. There are 353 posts waiting to be read on bloglovin. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

PARADE TO REMOVE HEAD DRESS!!!

……………………………………………………..

………………………………………………………..

To the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier-General Maharazu Ismaila Tsiga

Hip, Hip, Hip, Hurray!

To the State Coordinator, Mgbemena Kanayo Chris

Hip, Hip, Hip, Hurray!

To the Camp Commandant, Salawu A.A

Hip, Hip, Hip, Hurray!

To the unforgettable Assistant Camp Commandant, AbdulRasaq Bello (RSM) (Who made it all fun)

Triple Hip, Hip, Hip, Hurray!!!

THE NYSC ANTHEM

Youths 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.

All the love in the world, MuAh!!! INEZ