CIVILIZATION AT LAST:

CIVILIZATION AT LAST:

After the school had accepted us and we were done with documentation, we left for the local government headquarters. We got there, there was a brief meeting and then it was time for registration/documentation some bank personnel had also been brought in so we could open an account where our NYSC allowance will be paid into. This went on till about 1pm and when we were done the L.G.I for NYSC permitted to go home as schools had closed or were about closing from the Christmas break (there was also the fact that we weren’t prepared; we had only white shirts, white shorts and a few things from camp…no extra clothes). This was Tuesday and since it was already late, Chef, I.P. and I planned to leave on Wednesday. We headed back to the village and went to get lunch but I rarely ate for fear of the animals running around (which kept happening till the day we left). I.P. left on Wednesday but Chef and I stayed on as we decided to spend time alone and well he also didn’t want me to go home to Yemi’s house; before I left for camp Yemi and I were still close and I had left my clothes and stuff in his house that I’d come back to get it after camp and we were also supposed to attend an event on Saturday.  We finally left on Thursday very late in the afternoon and did not get home (Lagos) till about 9-10pm.

Photocredit: Google Images

Yemi had to come pick me up from somewhere and he ran into Chef (he was waiting to be sure I was safe) and so when we got home and I was on the phone with Chef struggling to have a friendly non-romantic conversation.  When I was done with the conversation, Yemi asked me if I had a boyfriend and I was trying to spin the question around but he goes I know you and when you started getting distant while you were in camp and that he saw Chef and I hug that night and he made a snide comment about Chef kissing me (well it looked like Chef was trying to kiss me but he wasn’t, he didn’t even want to hug me because Yemi was there).  Well, I ended up admitting that I did and that I was tired of waiting around for him and he asked why for once I did not tell him when someone new showed up into my life and was asking me out; I told him that every time that happened he always made it seem like I was only telling him how I felt because there was someone else. We just talked the night away and gave each other songs to listen and he told me how he wanted to ask me out when I got back from camp. Before I left for camp we had a discussion about us, the possibility of reconciliation and our future and I had said I wanted to define things if we were getting back together this time and apparently I had said that he had from then till I get back from camp (3weeks) and the funny thing is I remember everything but I don’t remember giving him the timeframe. It was kind of a sad night, I even considered leacing Chef for Yemi; see Yemi and I had been through a lot of good and bad times and we had been together (on/off) for 2 years plus and somehow it always seemed like we were meant to be and everyone thought so too. Anyways, the sad part was we didn’t even have time to talk and say goodbye because Chef had been unhappy about me staying over at Yemi’s so I had booked my flight for the next day (Friday) to make him happy and avoid any temptation which wasn’t exactly nice as Yemi and I had planned for weeks to go for the event on Saturday and he had to go alone.

Anyways, I did not break up with Chef and I said my goodbye to Yemi and headed home (Yemi took me to run a few errands and then catch a flight home). The break was for about 2 weeks as we had to be back at the beginning of January and although it was short it was nice to be around family, relax and all before heading back to the village.

P.S: I later realized that as much as I like to be strong and all that was the day for me to be weak and use my gender to my advantage…LOL. Well the reason I said that is because when I was reposted at the L.G.I., I was just like “its fine it doesn’t matter”, “I can survive”, “the next settlement can’t be that bad” and well it was that bad. Apparently, some girls had cried and said they couldn’t even stay and had been reposted to somewhere more developed (urban) or even taken to other settlements in that local government that were a bit developed or at least had about 20hours supply of electricity, well so much for being the strong girl. Another reason I had stayed though was because I was starting a business and I thought it will be nice to just be n somewhere quiet and serene and concentrate well I didn’t know about the light and water situation.

The break is over and I am back in the village and there hasn’t been light since I got back here and apparently there has been no light for a month. The network was off for a few days but its better now; it goes off at certain times but at least we are used to the routine.

I thought a few people might also enjoy my playlist, I listen to any kind of music but yeah I would admit that a lot of times I am about the vocals. Anyways, here is what I was listening to while typing this:

The money – Davido ft Olamide

Purple Rain – Kelly Clarkson (cover)

Rise Up – Andra Day

I’ll Stand by you – The Pretenders

Let It Go – James Bay

1+1 – Bryan Bautista (The Voice U.S.A)

Listen – Shalyah Fearing (The Voice U.S.A)

Broken Wing – Shalyah Fearing

In Common – Alicia Keys

Yours in service,

Corp Girl

PPA (Place of Primary Assignment) – PART 2

PPA (Place of Primary Assignment) – PART 2

Photocredit: Chef's phone

Chef, IP (who I’d call IP for the sake of the blog) and I were so disappointed and we decided to take a stroll in the hopes of finding a guesthouse to stay for a few days; you see we had to report to the school the next day and then get accepted or rejected and report back to the L.G.I for documentation and all and finally proceed home since schools were on break. We found a guest house which was not really what you’d call a guest house but in that village (settlement) it was the best thing we could find; there was a bed, a fan and a table, a bathroom (those local ones that have a shower and toilet so while you’re bathing you’re pouring water on the toilet seat) and well there was a water system apart from that the guest house was just crap. It cost ₦2000 for a night at the guest house and that was a plus. So we told the caretaker at the guest house that we would be back and we left get food as were hungry. We found a place to get food but the ambience and the food was nothing to write home about. I am such a big fan of great customer service and the service there was crap; no one attended to us for a while we had to shout and well speak Yoruba most of the time (Chef speaks Yoruba really well because his mum is Yoruba and that helped/is still helping us this NYSC period). The building was like a wooden hut and just a really small place with the firewood and pots and a few benches. We sat down to wait for the food and it was so horrible because the whole while goats, dogs and chickens were running around. They kept going under the benches and I had to raise my leg up because I was so scared; I like animals and all but I am so freaking scared of them. It was so uncomfortable eating with my legs up on the bench and the food wasn’t great either but we had no choice so we just ate as fast as we could so we could leave quickly. We were about to leave when the Vice-Principal came to the ‘food joint’ and he said they had been looking for us because we had been out a while and we had said we wouldn’t be long we just wanted to take a stroll.

Anyways, we got back to the corpers’ lodge and we met Corper S. and Luchi who were angry that we left and we didn’t come back sooner, they had also prepared a meal since it was our first day and they knew we had no means to cook. We apologized but I guess it didn’t really help that we also left right after the apology to go sleep in the guesthouse. I persuaded Chef to ask IP to come with us (I wasn’t sure if he wanted to spend money) because I felt that if Chef and I left it would be a lot of attention and look like we just wanted to be alone to get physical. IP ended up following us and we all shared a room that night.  Chef and I reflected on the day (and shared a real kiss for the first time) and he had option to call a family friend to get him reposted and so we decided to talk and do what was best for us. I told him it was fine to go even though I honestly didn’t want him to leave as I had only survived that day because we were a team. I wasn’t  sure about leaving, I wasn’t ready for the stress of reposting, I love a challenge and I was starting a business venture that would require my time and I thought at least being in the village means I would be free from the hustle and bustle and have time to focus on my business. Chef decided that he would stay with me (bless him!) and so he called and told the family friend not to bother about his reposting and so it was decided that we would stay. As, I stated in a previous blog post that’s why  we or rather I can’t leave now because after he made a sacrifice to stay, I feel it would be unfair of me. Well, we decided to call it a night as we had a busy and long day the next day; we had to get to school and then local government for proper documentation.

The next morning, we got up early to get to the school on time but our efforts proved fruitless as we had to wait forever to get a bike to the school; the weird thing about the settlement/village is that unlike other places were bike men are hustling to get customers, they just sit and wait for you to approach and sometimes they even decide that they don’t feel going anywhere.  We finally got a bike and headed to the school, on getting to the school we met the Principal who talked with us and joyfully accepted us to the school (like he had a choice…LOL). We were told that they had only 7 staff and they also didn’t have teachers for some subjects especially English Language??? (What exactly were they doing in school?) They took notes of subjects we could possibly teach with our educational background; Chef for English, IP for Mathematics and I for Accounting (Commerce) or Business Studies. We caught a glimpse of the classrooms which weren’t in the best state, the students were outside playing when we arrived and most of them were barefooted, their uniforms were torn, they were wearing dirty t-shirts or looked haggard (I’m not judging them and I have gotten quite close to some of them and it’s not actually about their condition or status is just that they don’t care mainly because that’s how they “roll” in the village). We met some other staff and we also dropped our details with the school.

P.S: I am home for a short while as the school is currently on break. I was in Lagos for a while and now I am back to my parent’s house. I have a very interesting blog post from my time in Lagos…stay tuned for that.

I thought a few people might also enjoy my playlist, I listen to any kind of music but yeah I would admit that a lot of times I am about the vocals. Anyways, here is what I was listening to while typing this:

Can’t Help Falling in Love with you – Jena Irene (American Idol Cover); such a great song by Elvis Presley, When a man loves a woman – Joshua Ledet (American Idol Cover), Street Credibility – 9ice ft 2face

Yours in Service,                                                                                                                          Corp Girl

PPA (Place of Primary Assignment) – PART 1

 The football field at my PPA; Photocredit: Chef's phone

After 3 weeks in CAMP, it was finally time to leave camp and report to our respective PPA’s. PPA simply means Place of Primary Assignment and it is where you serve the country for the remainder of the service year. It is usually government establishments such as government schools, government offices and government hospitals although in recent times private companies have requested and had corpers sent to them. So on this fateful last day of camp, here I am waiting for all the ceremonies to be over so I could get my letter of posting, I was eager and so full of hope that I would be posted to the state capital or at least somewhere great. We had to pack our luggage out of the hall very early that morning and Chef and I had met up earlier that morning to discuss our posting and we were very hopeful. Chef was part of the closing parade which was quite fun (well apart from the people that fainted standing under the hot sun) and immediately after that we met up to go and take our posting letter. The letter was distributed by state code number and we were divided into groups which was so sad as you see Chef and I had thought we would take ours at the same time since we were in the same platoon (also our state codes were almost the same with the exception of one number). Anyways, we were on separate lines but we agreed to get our letters and tell each other were we had been posted to at the same time. I got my letter and saw that I had been sent to this village and I was sad and ashamed to tell Chef anyways I walked up to him and he was reluctant to tell me where he had been posted to. He snatched my posting letter and gave me his and we saw it was the same local government and same school and we hugged each other as we had found joy in the midst of disappointment. Anyways, we said our goodbyes to our friends and made enquiries about our PPA. Transportation was provided for corpers to our respective local government and we found the bus to our local government and bid farewell to camp after 3 weeks and we were ready for the next phase. 

Our local government was about 40mins from the camp and the journey there had us feeling less optimistic as most of the places we had passed were mostly bushes or rural and remote areas. We also discovered that the local government did not have any bank so anytime we needed money or needed to conduct any bank transaction we would have to travel back to the town where the camp was located which is a 40mins journey. The local government has about 7 settlements and the local government headquarters was in the same settlement as my PPA which was our first stop as we had to meet the Local Government Inspector (L.G.I), get briefed and get to our various settlements. We met with the L.G.I and our executives and we were informed by the L.G.I that he would have to reshuffle us according to the needs of the schools in the various settlements. Sadly, I was moved to another settlement but on the bright side Chef had once again ended up with me; same settlement and same school.  The sad part was that we were farther away from civilization and the journey to the bank would now take about an hour. We were given a new letter of reposting and we proceeded to our various settlements; the vice-principal of the school I had been posted to was there to pick us up and take us to the settlement. It was another 30minutes drive from the headquarters and we (there were 3 of us) finally got the settlement. We arrived at the corpers’ lodge and it was an eyesore; the wall was unpainted and had scribbling on it, there was no toilet (well there was a pit you could use as a toilet), no water system (you had to fetch water from a monopump at the centre of the town), in fact the rooms were looking empty with the absence of a welcoming bed just one haggard looking mattress (which for the life of me I’d prefer to call a flat foam). The corpers’ lodge was already been occupied by 3 people; the CDS chairman who came to pick us up; Corper S., Luchi and a third person; Corper A. who wasn’t around. The first two were from Batch A and the last person was in the same batch with us but stream 1.

P.S: I’d be going home soon but I’d still keep blogging. As of now, we haven’t had power (light) for almost a week now, the fuel scarcity in the country has made it almost impossible to buy fuel (petrol) and we ran out of water as usual. Chef and I just bought a litre of petrol for ₦400; well it was black market (illegal sales). Last week was crazy it rained heavily and the roof was leaking and it was even dropping on the bed, the mosquitoes are another serious issue and I always feel like they bit me more. Well, I discovered that I was right about my feeling; I learnt that some of us are mosquito magnets and mosquitoes bite us more than other people.

I thought a few people might also enjoy my playlist, I listen to any kind of music but yeah I would admit that a lot of times I am about the vocals. Anyways, here is what I was listening to while typing this:

When you tell me that you love me – Westlife ft Diana Ross, Who you are – Jessie J, Yesterday – Toni Braxton, Your Side of The Bed – Trey Songz, Stuttering – Jasmine Sullivian, Superwoman – Karyn White, The Reason – Hoobastank, That’s where you find love – Westlife, Thank God I found you - 98⁰/Joe/Mariah Carey, Hallelujah – Alexandra Burke, Imagine Me – Kirk Franklin

NYSC ORIENTATION CAMP

NYSC ORIENTATION CAMP (3 WEEKS IN CAMP)

This is by far the best part of the NYSC service year (in my opinion). I was a bit frantic to go to camp; I heard stories from how stressful camp was to the harsh punishment and toilet situation. However, I have always been “Miss prove them wrong” and so I was determined to prove everyone who said I couldn’t cope wrong. I got to camp and after all the screening and all of that I was asked by a military personnel to carry my box on my head to pavilion…I was like “oh no they can’t be serious…I’m a bit down” however, I wasn’t ready for the fuss so I actually carried my very heavy and big box on my head. The day did not get any better we had to queue up for a hall, room, mattress, uniform and registration and I was not able to complete mine on the first day so it dragged into the second day. I had to purchase a few things in camp on the first day as I could not carry everything I needed since I By the end of the week we had been sworn in and then camp life had started proper. I had gone into camp with a “I’d just be on my own mindset, you know I’m not their mate and I’m not here to play’ and so I was kind of a loner with the exception of one very good friend and a few acquaintances but by the beginning of the next week I was everyone’s friend and one of the platoon leaders. Camp became more interesting and exciting, I did not mind that we did not get much sleep, I was busy and time was going so fast. I met a guy who I’d call Chef for the sake of this blog (I already talked about him in the previous blog) and everyday became a routine event with him we walked around together and had fun especially at Mammy market (camp market). I fell sick towards the end of camp and I went to the camp clinic, I tested positive for malaria and I was given some minor drugs as I had already come to camp with some drugs from my clinic at home.  I actually had fun with the platoon sport events, NYSC competitions, talent hunt, parade, morning exercise (it was so much fun…shoutout to the DJ) and the Man-O-War drill. The soldiers and camp officials could be mean when they wanted to be but overall they were actually nice people once you got to know them. They would punish you and still be playing with you.

I did not enjoy their food so I only went to the kitchen about 3-5 times. Bathing was a bitter sweet experience as it was freezing in the morning and the water was cold, the state of the bathroom did not help and sometimes we had to bath outside. The toilets could not flush and most times they were messed up however, I could not bring myself to do the shot put (‘pooing’ into a nylon bag and throwing it away well mostly over the fence) so I used the toilet once in a while when it was very clean which was very uncomfortable.

THINGS TO NOTE:

You have to be prepared to queue for everything

Enjoy the punishments…lol it is actually fun (most of the time)

You’d be paid your ‘allawee’ before you leave camp and given 2500 (transport allowance)

Photocopy all your documents

Never wear slippers outside or any other footwear for that matter apart from your white sneakers/canvas

Mammy market has everything you need and variety of food…It was my favorite place in camp

DOCUMENTS TO TAKE TO CAMP:

CALL-UP LETTTER

GREEN CARD (NYSC)

CERTIFICATE/ NOTIFICATION OF RESULT/STATEMENT OF RESULT (Certificate of registration with your council/board for doctors, pharmacist or optometrist, lawyers and evidence of completion of housemanship/internship)

ID CARD

PASSPORT PHOTOGRAPH (between 8 and 10 because you’d need some at your PPA) although you’d take official NYSC passports later on in camp

ALL DOCUMENTS USED TO RGISTER AND INTERNATIONAL PASSPORT (foreign graduates)

THINGS YOU NEED IN CAMP:  (You can also buy them in camp at mammy market  but they’d be more expensive)

Money (obviously however if you do not plan to eat their ‘kitchen’ food then please take a lot of cash or at least be prepared to pay to withdraw using their POS machine)

Bedsheet

Bucket and bathing bowl

Padlock

Plate (flat), bowl and cutlery

Slippers

Toiletries i.e. toilet roll, sanitary pad, dettol/disinfectant, soap, detergent

Towel

Waist Pouch

White shorts, shirts sneakers and stockings/socks

ORIENTATION CAMP DAILY PROGRAMME

The program remains the same almost every day apart from the swearing in day and the day we leave camp, Sundays are free with the exception of social events at night.

The day usually starts at 5:30am with devotion, at 6am Nigeria wakes up meaning we stand at attention and sing the national anthem (while the flag goes up), after that its exercise time and them parade time. Somewhere between 8 and 9am we have breakfast. After that its lectures, debate, SAED (Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development) and from then on its lunch, siesta, sports and then dinner. From 8pm or thereabout its socials such as Talent Hunt, Drama, Dance, Mr. Macho, Miss NYSC and other competitions.

Till the next blog

Photocredit: Chef's phone
Photocredit: Google Images

Yours in service, 

Corp Girl

HOW DID I GET HERE OR MY MORONIC STORY?

HOW DID I GET HERE OR MY MORONIC STORY?

Well, I already explained why I was blogging in my first/previous post and I thought that I’d share some light on how I ended up in this remote village.

In Nigeria, it is compulsory that after you complete your Bachelor’s Degree you serve your country (Nigeria) for a year. This is called NYSC (National Youth Service Corps) and it was introduced by the government to reform, rehabilitate and reconcile the Nation. It is a one year service that includes 3 weeks in camp and it takes place across the 36 States of the nation. Graduates are usually posted to states other than their state of origin or state of residence.

I had completed my Bachelor’s Degree and immediately after that I proceeded to the UK to study for a Master’s Degree. Fast-forward to 2015, I had completed my studies and graduated with a very good grade (Merit). I came back to Nigeria and went back to the university were I obtained my Bachelor’s Degree to have my details sent so that I could partake in the upcoming NYSC scheme. I already had the mindset that as far as it wasn’t some remote area or somewhere in the North (for security reasons) any state (although I had a preference for Lagos) I was posted to will be fine because it will be fun , a different experience and because I like a challenge (lol…I didn’t know that I’d end up somewhere so far from civilization).

However, this time NYSC management was giving graduates the option to choose 3 states they prefer and I thought this was a welcome development. I ended up travelling to the U.S. for the summer break and I was not able to come  back early enough for the final part of the registration; I came back 5 days after the registration had started, at this time the more developed and “happening” states had been selected. Lagos State had been my number one preference because my then boyfriend who I’d call Yemi (for the sake of this blog) was residing in Lagos although the relationship had finally ended prior to my summer trip (the distance especially while pursuing my Master’s had added to the break up…I’d take most of the blame though). However, over the summer break I had reconnected with an old friend who I’d call Uncle S (for the sake of this blog) in Nigeria and there were sparks flying around *lol* and he also resided in Lagos but as the time I got back to Nigeria, Lagos was no longer available on the list of states to choose from. I'm the kind of person who likes to spend time with the people I love Uncle S insisted that I choose the State I am currently serving in because it was close and due to the nature of his job he could stay with me 3-4 days a week (he envisioned that I’d be in the Capital/City). So I ended up choosing that state as my 1^st choice, Cross rivers state as my 2^nd choice and Imo state as my 3^rd choice.  Sidebar: the relationship didn’t work out well all on me again and the fact that the ex (Yemi) was in the picture and also an acquaintance of his, however, Uncle S is such a great man and will definitely make a great husband.

So that was how I ended up in this state (although there was always a plan to redeploy to Lagos) anyways fast-forward to the 3 weeks orientation camp by this time Yemi and I were speaking again and on a path to recovery/getting back together or at least I wanted to get back together with him. I went to camp and met my Chef (who I’d call Chef for the sake of the blog) and although at first I didn’t want to date him because I was holding on for Yemi but somehow Chef and I worked out. I was very active in camp and I was also an official in my platoon so I wasn’t worried about my PPA (Place of primary assignment) as the usual notion was that people that were involved were usually posted to the city/capital or at least the best local governments. PPA is where you serve the nation for the rest of one year service and it’s usually government enterprises such as clinics, schools, government offices. Chef was also very active in camp and participated in the final/very important parade before we left camp and they were assured by the military personnel that they would end up in the Capital/City. Anyways to cut the long story short neither of us ended up in the Capital/City which was odd as everyone else like us did, we ended up in some local government and the same school in the same ward/village. However, we were reposted within that local government and still ended up in the same school in a more remote and less civilized village (FATE….ain’t  it)…LOL that’s how I ended up in this village. We both decided to stay at different times because of each other and so even when I could have left I didn’t because I couldn’t back stab him. A friend of mine described us as MORONs…LOL

P.S: There’s still no power supply and as usual we had to contribute to get some fuel for the generator so we can pump water into the tank. I’m enjoying some good music from Alicia Keys especially her Element of Freedom album. Anyways till the next blog post feel free to drop a comment, judge me (LOL) and just read the post. 

Watch out for the next blog post sometime this week.
Photocredit: Google Images

Yours in service,

CORP GIRL

WELCOME TO MY BLOG

Lol...I actually can't believe I am blogging.

First things first, welcome to my blog...feel free to share my post(s), drop a comment or just read through.

Why am I blogging? I have actually (weirdly) always thought that I have an interesting life that people will like to know/hear about however I have always been too private to share details of my life maybe because I am just too private or because I think its too much power to give people over your life or because I was so scared of being judged, Anyways, I recently started serving my nation (NYSC; National Youth Service Corp) and its been terrifying, exciting and a time of so many firsts. While I was in camp my dad actually said he hoped I would write a book about my NYSC year and I recently spoke to a friend of mine who said I should actually write or blog about my NYSC year. So here I am, I finally mustered the courage to blog and I hope you enjoy my journey/story from how I ended up in a remote village in the West to how I am coping.

P.S: As I am writing this there has been no light/power (PHCN) for the past 7 days, we (my fellow corp members) had to contribute to buy petrol for the generator so we could pump water as we also ran out of water. I know there's shortage of power in Nigeria presently, however even when the power supply was quite alright we hardly ever had light in this village *bummer*.

Till my next blog post (which will be very soon) enjoy your weekend while I battle the flies and insects in this darkness.

Till the next post,
Corp Girl