NYSC DIARY: 'Thank God Jonathan is No longer President' - Lagos Coordinator

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abujagirl

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If you're familiar with the NYSC anthem you know what it says about unconditional service to Nigeria.

"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"


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Well, it rained on Saturday morning immediately after we finished singing the anthem on the parade ground. It seems heaven was testing how far we could go for Nigeria. If it was a test, we all failed it. Everybody – soldier and corp member ran back to the hostel once the first drop of rain hit the earth.

We stayed in bed until 11am when we were asked to report to the parade ground for lecture. I woke up with flu and a nasty headache

NYSC Lagos state coordinator was all fire and brimstone when addressing corp members. He seemed angry about the conduct of some corp members the previous night. He accused them of rolling their waist and getting drunk.

“If you misbehave in my camp again, I'll decamp you”, he thundered.

“Thank God Jonathan is no longer President. You see what is happening to Saraki, people can no longer behave anyhow in Nigeria”

“It doesn't matter who your father is, I'll decamp you”, he continued.

He further threatened to turn off water in the bathrooms so corp member will walk outside and fetch water from the tap. When the threat got corp members giggling the Coordinator threatened to cancel “bonfire night”. That got our attention. The bonfire night is the biggest social event held in all NYSC camps round the nation before corp members leave for primary assignments.

“Nigeria owes you nothing”, he adds before walking away from the microphone .
YALE fellows from the Nelson Mandela Washington Fellowship, address corp members on contributing to the community.

My flu gets worse. I’m sneezing every few minutes and increasingly restless. A kind friend shares his medication with me. I know it's a wrong thing to do but I accept it. Camp clinic is always too full these days, will have to manage what i can find.

Got my Official NYSC ID Card today- fam it's ugly. They used the ugly passport I uploaded during NYSC online registration. Seriously considering losing the IID card so I can apply for a new one.

No afternoon parade on Saturday; I'm dancing “Shakiti bobo” . I crawl back to my hostel and chill in bed until hunger threatens to annihilate me. Was too feverish to eat lunch, my last meal was breakfast – over priced toasted bread and tea purchased at the Mammy market.
I hate going to Mammy market alone, makes it hard to eat. Too many guys drop by the table to say ‘Hi’. I'm in no mood for that. I whip out my crappy Nokia X and call my vegetarian friend. I'm always following him around when he has to eat, it’s time to repay the favour.

My vegetarian friend is already at mammy hanging out with a mutual friend. I dash out to join them. It's supposed to be a 2 minutes walk but I spent 25 minutes. Stopped to use the ATM and hug my big teddybear-like friend. My teddybear-like friend has a date that evening, he's worried about his appearance. I'm like, “ guy she's also wearing white shorts and T-shirt , your fine face is enough to brighten her evening”.

I had a good time in Mammy. I drank a lot of water and managed to stuff down very little of my food – I miss my family, I miss bae, I miss everybody that's not in Camp.

After leaving Mammy, I head straight to the parade ground. GTB is treating corp members to a night of comedy and movie. I share a seat with a friend who bears a variation of my name. We talk about nothing important while enjoying the show.

GTB is out to please- meat and Coca-Cola is shared during the event. I'm no Oliver Twist but my long throat is asking ‘why not chicken and chips?’. I have a GTB account so I have a right to feel entitled to more. Just when the movie “Gidi Up” is getting more interesting, it's time for lights out.

I end my day by downing a tablet of Procold . May Sunday be a better day.

P.S: My roommates showed me so much love and care because of the flu. Everyone was so sweet to me. Maybe, flu is not such a bad thing.
 
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