AKWA IBOM AYAYA!!! (MY CAMP CHRONICLES)

All through school, internship and everything in between, I have read about NYSC, and formed my opinions of it. I belonged to the group of people that believed it was a program that has had its original motives defeated already. Although I was mostly unperturbed at the time, since it seemed so far off, before I would at least have to participate in it. 

I didn't know why, but I felt as far as NYSC was concerned, I was insulated in a way from it. Do not ask me why, It was just a hunch that the program has got nothing on me. However, that was to change when it finally caught up with me; and it was now time to serve. I knew nothing about NYSC; and all I was used to seeing, were my people posing in their khaki wears and some others talking about their experiences in camp. I did not even know how all the service thingy worked. 

I could not relate directly, and the dominant thought on my mind was when it is time, "We go run am". Although now that I think about it, I need to stop saying that "We go run am" or " Na Smallz" depending on the context. Because NYSC finally showed that it was not small in any way.  And as it is the common lingo around here, "NYSC sef o kere o". Well, that is just by the way, so lets continue shall we? One thing lead to the other, and I registered for the program. 

If you are conversant with NYSC moves, you know you have to register before you are posted to whatever state in this country, It was during this period I became familiar with many NYSC terms. You know terms like "posting, PPA, camp, call up letter" etc. I registered and as usual, I was expecting the best. My Parents would call and would be like "We are praying for you, I hope you get the best". Then you know the typical Nigerian way, I learnt that folks were always trying to influence their postings; something they called "Direct Posting". Well, maybe it was better to do that, before brigadier threw you to wherever he pleases. 

There was a lot of jostling here and there, and we also tried all that we could. You can now imagine the shock when I refreshed my page that typical Sunday evening, and I saw something in the lines of "You have been posted to Akwa Ibom state". Akwa Ibom of all places? somewhere that far? moving from the core Yoruba west to the relatively unknown South-South was not something I was going to come to terms with immediately. I immediately put a call to my mother, and she just kept repeating the name of the state, till she dropped the call. 

I guess she could not come to terms with the fact that her colleagues and family friends could not come through in the way she expected. One bright spot was that she was relieved I was not going to the north to serve. She has read about all sorts, and she had old me point blank that if I was posted to that region, I had better say bye to NYSC, and find something else to do with my life, Because I was going nowhere. You can understand why she would say that right? 

As expected, I called my favorite person, she agreed with my mum, and had her own distinct reactions. I would not be saying anything further. Moving on; at this point I do not even want to brag, but I know a thing or two about most states in this country. I don't know how this came to be, but I just have a knack for reading about the differences between the different tribes and people in different regions of this country, and what they were typically known for. 

Well, this was going to be more like an opportunity to experience a different culture; I knew the state comprised of mostly the Ibibios, the Annangs and Oron. I have heard about the dishes such as Afang, the chicken white soup, Oha, Edkang, and all the others. Although to be true to myself, I was not big on trying them out, the thought of not purging in camp was all that was on my mind. I also knew the state to be more like the capital of white elephant projects in Nigeria. 

This is not meant to be a slight, but when discourses shift to the Ibom E-library, the multi-capacity stadiums, and more recently that smart building the governor is currently working on, You have a clearer picture of what I am saying. The state also grappled with the big challenge of electricity. Although to be fair, There were also many other things to be proud of, such as the Ibom air, a state-owned air carrier, a good one at that. There is the Ibom Tropicana, the Ibom Icon, amongst a host of other cool places a first time visitor would like to check out. 

Fast forward, and I found myself in Akwa Ibom, and onward to the orientation camp located in a place called Nsit-Atai. I would later notice that there was this peculiar way Akwa-Ibomites named their towns. There was Nsit-Atai, Udung, Etinan, Uruan, Ikot-Ekpene, there was this peculiarity to these names I could not pick out. This is also coupled with some sort of aggressiveness with which they ended sentences in the local language. 

Hearing two natives arguing can be somewhat amusing; and this is all because of the aggressiveness with which they pronounced sentences; you might be quick to think that a fight was about to start. Talking about Indigenes, I would be making a little detour here to give a honorable mention to that airport taxi driver that fleeced me and a friend of our hard earned cash. 

Imagine an 100% increase for a place "Bolt" calculated should only cost 700 Naira. Yeah you read that right. 700 Naira! and man still had the guts to give us his contact, for us to call him when we are out of camp. So much for the big welcome. But that is all in the past now. Although for what it's worth, we quickly learned that if you are a Corp member here, you are seen as a walking ATM. A hard lesson learnt. But we move still, so moving on to the camping itself. 

First of all, if there was anything fascinating you have been told about camp, you might have to start scrambling your memory now. You will get to snap lots of pictures, and then smile too,  so folks out there might think you are having it cool at least. The first thing you do when you get into camp was to get sworn in. Through which you would have to stand in the sun for so long while listening to addresses bordering on how important you are to nation building. 

It is after this swearing-in that you get into the thick of it all. There are many moments, and if you are interested in serving, you might have to wait till you get into camp, before you form your opinion about the whole program. It rained in Nsit-Atai a lot, so everywhere was always wet. This made me nauseous a lot, and just after the first night I started my countdown out of that place. 

There were a lot of parades, and practice marches in the hot sun. Although I was able to hide out at the clinic, I was still bored a lot of times. Many were not afforded that opportunity. There were lots of good times though; I shared laughs and listened to people talk about their realities. I have always loved that, listening to people share their perspectives on whatever that suits their fancy. I enjoyed asking folks leading questions and hearing them talk about all that is important to them. 

There was something I noticed with nearly everyone in camp, despite the general complaints about everything in camp, the food, the sleeping conditions, the early rising to that very annoying trumpet sound, there was still this kind of thrill in the air. It was as if everyone was happy to be doing something out of the norm. People made lots of noise too; and it was always herculean to get people to keep quiet when there was one activity or the other to be done. 

The people of Akwa Ibom pray a lot; I should mention this here. This will make you to easily get the idea behind the state's description as the land of promise. Although it was hard to see how effective the prayer was, when you try to study the people and their current realities. But Isn't that the plight of everyone in the country?. At a point, I was fully convinced I had issues with my discipline, when waking up and going for the many parades became such a big deal for me. It was a relief when I figured out I could hide at the clinic and dispense drugs for others. One of the few times I have thanked my stars I struggled to get a Bachelor's degree in pharmacy. 

There were times I wondered why this program was in the very least necessary. Why I had to travel a lot just because I registered for a mandatory program and I was to serve in a place I have never been to in my life. Many of the camp officials, especially the soldiers (Yes, there are soldiers and they would always be around to monitor you, and shout orders at you such "Double up!, If you are sleeping you are wrong" and a host of others). Let me mention here that most of the soldiers were humane people, although I am still not a fan of the Nigerian army. 

Many of the camp officials and soldiers talked a lot about discipline, and I could not help but wonder how three weeks secluded in a place marching and doing early morning jogs was enough to make me disciplined. Then there was this place everyone referred to as the 'Mami Market'. Yeah! it was a market in all its entirety. You could get anything you wanted there. It was a place to lose it for some hours. You could dance, down some few bottles and gyrate all you wanted in this place. 

NYSC advises you to take some books with you to read, but you might not have time to read them. Although, you might get to flip through some pages from time to time. I did not make mention of the stress of standing in the sun, there might be some pictures in this post, and it would have stress written all over them. I got to live with folks of different characters, and I subtly interacted with some others. 

The hostel I stayed in was filled with different people from different parts of the country. Trust me to get into some arguments, and also instigate some. It was enjoyable to learn about what these young men and minds were up to; more like how the men folk were surviving amidst all the pressure society places on them. After a while, I gave up and I wanted to try some of the favorite delights of the people. 

I tried Afang, but it was bitter to taste. Although some folks gave the soup good reviews, and blamed it on where I ate it. I also tried out the chicken white soup; I enjoyed picking out the pieces of chicken but I still could not figure out why people enjoyed eating this with Fufu. I was told the soup goes perfectly with Pounded yam. But that is for another day; and lest I forget that Eba is known as Garri in that land, and the common Egusi soup is lots of melon with few vegetable. 

The people of Akwa Ibom rarely ate pepper in their soups, except for the pepper soups. And this was normal, because who makes pepper soup without the "Pepper". Due to this incompatibility with my taste buds, I had to settle for eating lots of noodles. 

All of these was very funny to me in a way. Anyway, for what it's worth, Uyo the state capital is a very beautiful place, but for all that beauty, you get lots of expenses in return. This might be affordable for a lot of people, but for someone like myself trying to figure it all out, It is expensive. I would be stopping here, I might come back to complete this, as I still have a lot to write about. Lest I forget, others might have something better to say about their time in camp, but this is my honest take. 

P.s: I hope you enjoy scrolling through this post, I have been at it for some days now. I am not too serious, I know. And all Images are gotten from random google searches, and unsplash (Try it).