Reminiscence: My 21-day experience at the NYSC orientation camp

By Muhammad Muzzammil Bashir

She is a tall, plump, fair lady from the South. For the sake of privacy, let us call her Joy. She looked at me from head to toe and hissed, saying, “You should by now be in level 100 or 200.” I smiled uncomfortably. She added, “In fact, you’re supposed to be writing JAMB by now.” I asked her why. She replied, “You are too small to be in camp.” I managed to smile again and asked her how old she was. With a sheer, larger-than-life composure fully materialising on her face, she answered, “I’m so-and-so-year-old.” I humbly replied with my age number, and it became clear to us that I was two years older than her. She was full of apologies instantly. And guess what transpired after? We became friends.

It never occurred to me to write about my life on the camp until a day before our passing out when I was lying on my bed reflecting on the experiences I had had on camp. I wanted to write this piece immediately after we were out of camp, but many things took my attention elsewhere. I pray this piece may inspire those yet to enter the camp to open up their minds and embrace the life they are about to find inside the camp, as well as the general public to keep an open mind whenever they find themselves in a strange environment.

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is a one-year mandatory service that Nigerian graduates under 30 must undergo to teach unity and discipline. I had the opportunity to camp in Kano State in Batch B, Stream I. The camp opened on the 12th of July and closed on the 1st of August. It’s located in the Kusala Dam area of Karaye local government. The camp is bounded by the dam to the west and an army barracks to the north. The east border is where the local communities are settled, and the camp’s main entrance is at the south border. I read and heard a variety of suggestions from people who had camp experience on when I should set my travel to report to the camp on either the first day or on the second or third day, with some even suggesting one week after opening the camp while backing the benefits of their claims.

I weighed the options based on what I wanted to experience and achieve during camp. I chose to schedule my travel to reach camp on the first day. I got to the camp on Wednesday, July 12th, around 11 a.m. The first thing I noticed from the gate where our luggage was being checked before we moved on to the registration process was how the NYSC officials and the security personnel treated the corps members (CM). We were treated cheerfully with dignity and respect. After completing my registration, I moved to my hostel while others were going through the same process I went through. At around 3:45 p.m., the soldiers—instructors—asked us to go and wear our white shorts and T-shirts, the dress we were to spend our 21-day stay on camp wearing except on ceremonial occasions.

Among the first things you will hear from the NYSC officials at camp is that you do not own your time. The camp officials acknowledged it. They are the ones who tell you what to do at what time. You have to abide by it if you want to finish your orientation course in peace; otherwise, you will be decamped or punished depending on the severity of your misconduct. At around 4:05 p.m., they started blowing the bugle, a valveless sound instrument that serves as an alarm system in the military or paramilitary barracks. All the CMs that were able to finish their registration were marched to the parade ground, where we started receiving training on the basics of the match pass from the instructors after the usual welcome pleasantries. We were not released until 6:30 p.m., leaving most of us tired and stressed. After the Maghrib prayer at around 8 p.m., we went to the kitchen to collect our dinner. We were told there were no other activities for that day since it was our first day at camp. We, the Muslims, went to pray the Isha prayer and joined the rest at the mammy market to buy some items and other consumables for some of us who could not cope with the camp food. By 9:00 p.m., most of us had retired to the comfort of our beds to relax our bodies from the weariness of travel and parade activities so that we would have enough sleep and make tomorrow upbeat.

We sometimes hear many things about camp life before we enter camp. One such is that soldiers wake you up from sleep as early as 3:00 a.m. On our first night at the hostel, around 3:00 a.m., most guys were awake, fully kitted out in their whites, awaiting the bugle sound. The guy in my corner tried to wake me up at that time. I refused and told him we still had enough time to sleep because I had already checked it on the orientation guidebook given to us. I managed to cope with the noise and continued my sleep until 4:10 a.m., when I set my alarm before sleeping.

Alas, the sound of the mighty bugle came at around 4:45 a.m. By then, I was fully set to go out. The Muslims went to the mosque to do our Subh prayer, and the Christians went to the parade ground to observe their morning prayers. We joined them on the floor for morning meditation. The camp officials and instructors were there. Man O’War was there too. The camp PRO is in charge of moderating most of the events on base. She is a lady of average height, chubby, and black in complexion. She came to the front, took the mic, and greeted us, and we greeted her back. She then introduced the staffers, gave some instructions that would guide our peaceful stay on camp, and told us the schedule of activities for that day. She taught us the NYSC anthem and the national prayer (second stanza).

The first two to three days on camp are the most stressful for most coppers. We were subjected to only physical exercises and rehearsals for the swearing-in ceremony for those three days. The ceremony was scheduled to take place on Friday. So we started rehearsing on Wednesday afternoon of our first day of arrival. We were stressed out doing drills on the parade ground for most of the second day; even on the ceremony day, we did a final rehearsal in the morning before we were allowed to go and dressed up in our khaki trousers, crested vest, and jungle boots. The ceremony started at around 1100 hours after the arrival of the deputy governor of Kano State. After all the pleasantries and salutary parade went off, we were sworn in by the representative of the chief judge of Kano State.

From then on, the deputy governor gave his speech in English and Hausa and declared the orientation exercise open. We were then allowed to move around, socialise, and take pictures for memorabilia after the deputy governor was escorted back to his motorcade by the quarter guards and the NYSC officials. While on the parade ground during the ceremony, the sky started to go cloudy, giving all signs to start raining; we were forewarned that we were not allowed to move anywhere if it began to rain whenever we were on the parade ground, and more in particular during the ceremony in the presence of the special guest. Fortunately, in the first place, the rain started dropping lightly and stopped abruptly within a few minutes.

One of the core missions of the NYSC is to foster unity among Nigerian youths. This is achieved at camp through social activities and competitions between the different platoons; this brings harmony, gives a sense of belonging to the CM, and keeps their stay at camp from being boring. On this note, the NYSC orientation exercise, as some of us thought, is not entirely about drills during the three weeks. There are a lot of activities that are organised for the CM. Among them are sensitisation lecture series from various government and non-governmental organisations, skills acquisition and entrepreneurship development (SAED) training, sports activities, cultural carnivals, social nights (where competition from drama to cultural and afro dances is observed), and cooking competitions, among others. After our swearing, the real camp life started, and we began to enjoy our stay there, with every day becoming increasingly impressive. Most camp friendships and love relationships form during this period and some even end in marriage. I made many friends, notably from the south and most from the north. From my short stay at camp, I cannot quantify the experience I gained, mainly from the coppers and some from the camp officials and non-camp officials (many market people). I had difficulty with the instructors’ (soldiers) language of instruction during the drills. They mostly give instructions in Pidgin English, and most of us from the North don’t understand it. I supposed they would use English, not vernacular, as a language of instruction since we are all graduates and should be treated as such.

One thing in common that most of my mentors have been advising me on is to seek leadership positions wherever I find myself. This will give me ample opportunities to gain leadership experience, build networking opportunities, and know how things are going in their grand scheme. This conviction led me to seek leadership positions and volunteer activities during my stay at camp. Everything in camp, from the level of the officials to the nonofficials and copper strata, is designed to have leadership roles. CM are each assigned to 10 different platoons by a computer algorithm. I found myself in Platoon 4. Each platoon is expected to have leaders who will coordinate its activities.

Leaders are mostly chosen through election or consensus by platoon members under the supervision of a platoon officer—an NYSC official. Hence, I had the opportunity to contest for the role of platoon leader. Two of us challenged: me and my colleague, Whinny. He was elected. Since we were both males who contested, an offer was thrown to the ladies for the position of deputy. Hence, I volunteered to take on the position of platoon secretary. Again, almost all the social activities have representatives from each platoon, mainly two people from each platoon. From social reps to sports reps, lecture reps, OBS (orientation broadcasting service) reps, parade commanders and their sub-guard commanders, and man o’ war, among others. These representative positions are primarily based on volunteerism and some on proficiency.

Upon all the rep’s volunteers during the process of selection, it never occurred to me to volunteer for anyone but lecture reps. I did that based on gut feelings; I instantly felt the urge to volunteer when it was announced. We were 20 lecture reps in number, two from each platoon. NYSC officials head the committee. Our main role is to come early in the morning, arrange the hall while morning meditation is going on at the parade ground, and help coordinate lecture activities. Also, six of us volunteered to take on the role of repertoires—the role of taking down key points of the lectures while they’re going on, typing them, and sharing them in our respective platoon WhatsApp groups for the sake of CM that were not around or not able to listen to the lectures attentively. This proved to be one of the two most demanding roles I had. It requires me to give my absolute attention to the lectures going on and, at the same time, take down important points. It deprives me of the informal opportunity to take a 2-3 minute nap that CM usually enjoy by cunningly dropping their facecap a little down to cover their eyes and escape being noticed by the officials during the lecture time. But the experience I had was worth the sacrifices. I met one of the most amazing people on camp on the committee. There is one of my Facebook friends, Abdoull Toro, whom I had never met face-to-face until in that committee. Surprisingly, we did not recognise each other until several days after we met in the committee during a normal chat we used to have while carrying out our assignment.

The other role that was so demanding was when I took on the position of Governor of Financial Inclusion Ambassadors with Chinecherem as my deputy, a very calm, intelligent young lady. This was during a 6-day training of financial inclusion ambassadors under the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development in collaboration with NYSC and other sister federal agencies. The training aim is to train us with adequate knowledge to raise awareness of the knowledge and skills needed to manage individual, household, and business finances effectively, to build confidence in using financial products and services, and to strengthen participation in the formal financial sector in the community we are serving. This will serve as our CDS (community development service) during our service year, one of the four cardinal programs of NYSC; others include camp orientation, serving at the place of primary assignment, and winding up or passing out.

This training was one of the most insightful moments of my stay at camp. I found myself amid ambassadors who are majority holders of degrees in accounting, banking and finance, economics, and business administration, with me, a holder of a human anatomy degree, as their leader. The training session was mainly interactive and lively, to the point that time used to escape our notice. I met great people there who taught me many things about financial literacy and inclusion, especially our training instructor from the ministry, Mrs. Ruth Hussein, who was very accommodating and compassionate to us.

Even though holding a leadership position necessitates responsibilities, it usually comes with sacrifices. Among the camp activities I dearly missed were my drills. Members of our lecture committee do not usually attend morning meditations and parades. This left me only free to participate in afternoon parades when sports and rehearsals for parade competitions started. I was in first place among the competing parade CM. Then, out of the blue, financial inclusion training came, making me weigh my options. I chose financial inclusion based on personal convictions and other reasons. This caused me to be dropped from the parade group of my platoon because of my absenteeism. The six days of the training were the most stressful of my stay at camp. I will be in the hall from 5 a.m. until 7:30 a.m. in the morning for hall arrangements and morning lectures.

Then, I will return to the hall after breakfast from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. for another lecture series while doing the repertoire work. By 2:30 pm, after taking my launch, I will move to the training class to be there before anyone else as a leader to arrange the class and provide everything that we may require for its smooth running. We will not leave there until 5:30 p.m. when I will have a chance to go and watch football and volleyball marches. Between the periods of Magrib and Isha prayers, that is where I mostly used to have time for chats with my roommates and other friends. Immediately after Isha’s prayer, I will move to the hall and locate a place, mainly in the front row, for social nights. I slept most days from around 11 p.m. to 4:30 a.m.; this enabled me to compensate for the siesta I was supposed to have in the afternoon and relieve my stress during the day.

While navigating the hilly valley camp life, trying to carry out all the responsibilities on my shoulders, as a human being with a desire for knowledge and life ambition, I have to make sure I create time for extracurricular activities that keep me spiritually active and intellectually creative. Under normal circumstances, even when I was in school, when it was time for semester exams, what I normally did first thing in the morning after Fajr prayer was my recitation of the glorious Qur’an before embarking on any other activity.

Camp life comes with different scenarios, and I don’t have the liberty to own my time for the time being. Despite that, I found time to recite 1-2 hizb daily throughout my camp stay. This enlightened my heart and gave me a sense of connection with my Creator. Even though all these were going on, as an avid reader of books, spending 1 or 2 days without reading makes me feel like a part of my body is missing, which I must find and place back to feel complete. I managed to read one book in camp—the book that we were reading at The Literati Book Club that month. This at least gave me a sense that I’m still moving on the right path towards my life purpose.

Apart from the experience I gained from the leadership positions I held and the volunteerism in which I engaged myself, I was given favours from the officials I interacted with and some from friends and colleagues during my stay at camp. Since before my graduation from the university, I have had the ambition to serve in Kano due to its ample opportunities, particularly in the commerce sector. My ambition later changed to Lagos, which I dropped for some reasons. Our call-up letter was not uploaded to the portal until a day before the commencement of camp in the afternoon.

I was so happy when I saw I was posted to Kano State, the state I desired. I had nothing better to do than thank the almighty God. Under normal circumstances, CM seeks to relocate to their desired state for health issues, marriage, or personal reasons. Some CMs follow the lawful means to get approval for their relocation if they meet the criteria. While some follow unlawful means, resulting in many of them falling prey to scammers. My engagement with officials gave me the privilege to relocate wherever I wanted. But what I wish to do is Kano. I was privileged to choose where I should be posted for my primary assignment. I did not have anywhere in mind. My response was always anywhere that is pretty good.

My 21-day stay at the NYSC orientation camp is momentous, with bundles of experience, knowledge, and networks I will continue to cherish.

Muhammad Muzzammil Bashir wrote via mbashir199@yahoo.com.