Olumide Goes to Camp....Part 2: PARADES!!!!

PARRRRAAAADE SHUN!!!!

you can find part 1 of Olumide's camp story here

Every day begins officially with the sounding of the bugle (Wake-up call) at 0520hrs. However, most people are already awake, bathed and dressed in their whites moments prior. For those who overslept, well, speaking from experience, I’d say waking up to the bugle is one of the most frustrating moments in camp.

In the first few days of camp, I was bewildered by the sheer number of corpers on the parade ground. Well, not as much as the sight of them in their whites. I and some unregistered at the time, in mufti, looked out of place alongside others. One of the funniest events at the morning parade, especially during the first week was the “flashes”. Yes, camera flashes. Corpers were taking pictures of themselves in whites very early in the morning. It was hilarious at some point, and then it became outright annoying as the flash contrast with the dark sky started causing me headaches.

Credit, of course goes to the daily morning meditation to which we were to “soberly reflect” on a form of admonition delivered by a fellow corps member. Later, the warm up exercises which included jogging from the second week, followed by marching practice by the platoons. This goes on until about 0800hrs when we go for breakfast. At this point, most people were intrigued by the nature of the morning drilling and were hence addicted to it; the weather was still cool. It is now afternoon time and the bugle is blown again for the afternoon parade and here we get a little bit of drama. The sun is high, combined with the humidity, makes for a very uncomfortable weather. Corps members who decided to observe the siesta are still sleepy eyed and the overall motivation to attend the afternoon parade is absent. The camp officials now have to resolve to chasing us out of the hostels to the parade ground, with the R.S.M (still don’t know what it stands for) in the lead. This became quite the unbearable experience and hence led many corps members to seek refuge in other areas, but that is a story for another time.

…to be continued in Part 3: “Busy Week (Lectures)”

 +Monsur Sokunbi  is a batch C 2013 Eko Koppa

Olumide Goes to Camp...Part 1: Intro

“Camp”, the one word understood by every Nigerian graduate as the National Youth Service Course Orientation Course, is one of the most discussed topics among fresh graduates in the country. Facts and rumours fly around concerning the course, most of which has to do with the “suffering” aspect of the camp. However, these stories are usually over exaggerated. A drive is taken into these rumours and a story is generated there forth.

After an almost boring trip, I arrived at the camp location, in a never visited state. Having counted the days down to D-day, today, I was getting the “here we go” feeling. This about that, and after a few days of registration, the Nigerian factor in play, and settling down, the story begins.

Let’s start with the bugle, yes, that “noisy” trumpet looking thing used to inform we, youth corpers alias “otondo”  that it is time for this or that event. Its effect however is felt on three occasions; waking up hour, lecture time and lights out. Though blown in the wee hours of the morning to wake us up, we are most of the time awake, hours prior to freshen up for the day. I earlier mentioned something about overly exaggerated stories; well, one of them falls into this waking up hour: taking a shower. Our predecessors always paint this grimy picture of absent amenities in camp, especially at the toilet, bathroom section. Popular statements we hear from them are: “You better learn to shower in the open, because you will take your bath outside. The bathroom is crappy”. Another is: “Get your nylon for short-put”.  Now, short-put should not be mistaken for the Olympic sport, however, if you do not know what it stands for, well, ask someone who has “been there, done that”. She/he will tell the story better. Having had that image in my head, prepared for the worst, it was kind of relieving to see some toilet amenities, however, minute, in place. And that was like a “star” experience compared to what was prepared for. Yes, I got my short-put material.

…to be continued in “Parades”.

+Monsur Sokunbi  is a batch C 2013 Eko Koppa

My Memorable Camp Story

  

Every moment I spent on camp was quite memorable.From the day I got to Ikare Akoko till d day I left. That cool village with so many beautiful tourist intriguing sites. The first day I got to camp was a bit hectic  registration wahala + accumulated stress from the long trip. I even forgot I have had nothing to eat and just kept my mind focused on the registration mission. It took me THREE days to register.

 After about 3 days, the main events started with the "under the sun and in the rain" swearing in, of which I know most of us would never adhere to..#laughs..Life continued with the parade and drill sessions. The only thing that made me wake up as early as 4am was the meditation piece that was read every morning. I admired the grammatical construction of each line of every piece. The very simple but mind blowing vocabs used to pass the message and most importantly, the necessity of the topics we had to meditate on. Those moments always stole my heart and I believe it had more impact on a lot of Corp members, Soldiers and the Nysc staff..

The physical trainings and parades was a very vital inclusion during the camping process, although the only part I enjoyed so well was the endurance trek: you would know how important that is if you are an Eko corper and you get stuck in the Eko terrific traffic.

Talking about the people I met in camp....hmmm...that one is a whole long story on its own cos virtually all of them where awesome people starting with those in my platoon to those in the hall where our bunks where AKA hostel... I learned from each one of them in ways they may not even recognize. My mannest man "Jo Chigozie"  tops the list of my unforgettable individuals, I thought I knew how to touch lives positively until I met Jo. The guy can be so sacrificial and down to earth. I also made Mammy market friends who never used their own money to buy me beer..#laughing# but they were still fun anyway.

One thing I admired so much about the location of the camping was the hill right opposite the camp. I always dreamt of being on top of that rock, shouting like someone who just won the Gulder Ultimate Search.

I slept most of the times they had lectures so I just have to put That side apart.
Camping generally was fun and if you should ask me to do it all over again I would only agree under one condition that the RSM and the rest of other soldiers won't have to get involved.

.........Written by Ban Ugonna Ejiofor.


 Ban Ugonna Ejiofor.is an Eko Koppa that camped in ondo state.

Requirements For Registration Of Nigerian Foreign-Trained Graduates

The following are the requirements for registration of foreign- trained Nigerian graduates wishing to participate in National Youth Service Corps:

• The Originals and photocopies of the following documents are required for registration and mobilization of foreign-trained graduates into the National Youth Service Corps (please note that downloaded Certificates/Transcripts, Statement of result and Attestation letters are not acceptable); viz:
  • First University Degree or HND Certificate
  • Complete official Transcript of the First Degree or HND programme
  • Marks Sheets (for Indian Schools only)
  • O’level Certificate i.e WASC, GCE, SSCE, NECO, IGCE, GCSE, High School Diploma for those who schooled in USA e.t.c. Candidate must obtain credit in not less than 5 subjects (including English and Mathematics) in not more than 2 sittings.
  • Medical Doctors and Optometrists are required to produce in addition, Evidence of completion of Housemanship, Registration Certificate with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria/Optometrists Association of Nigeria, as applicable.
  • Pharmacists shall produce in addition, Evidence of completion of Internship and the registration certificate with Pharmacists Council of Nigeria.
• Nigerian International Passport showing clearly;
  • Entry Visa to Country of Study
  • First Departure Date from Nigeria
  • Date of Return to Nigeria
  • Data page of the passport
  • Candidates with dual nationality are required to produce both passports for verification.
• Loss Of Travelling Passport
  prospective Corps Member who lost his/her passport would be required to present;
  • Police and Immigration reports from the country where the Passport got missing
  • Sworn Affidavit
  • Evidence of stay in country of study
  • The above documents should contain the same information as contained in the lost passport.
  • Current Nigerian International Passport
• For Loss Of Academic Credentials, the following is required;
  • Police Report
  • Sworn Affidavit
  • Confirmation letter from either the examination body (for loss of 'O' Level Certificate) or the academic institution of graduation (for loss of Degree, HND Certificate).
• Certificates not written in English Language should be translated at the Embassy of the country of study or a University in Nigeria where the language is studied, before uploading and presentation to the NYSC.
• Special Note:
  • Registration of foreign-trained graduates commences on 9th December, 2013 and closes on 14th February, 2014
  • Foreign-trained graduates enlisting into the Nigerian Youth Service are not obliged to choose their State of deployment. However, married women would be deployed to the state where their husbands are domiciled provided their marriage certificate and evidence of change of name (Newspaper publication and Court Affidavit) are uploaded and attached to their forms.
  • Graduate of University of Education Winneba, Ghana, King Faisal University, Chad Republic and all Universities in the Republic of Benin are requested to obtain and upload letters of Evaluation from Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja before registration.
  • All names inconsistency on different documents must be supported with Court Affidavit and uploaded before physical verification.
  • Verification is not done by proxy. All prospective corps members must therefore appear physically at the Evaluation Division of the Corps Mobilization Department of NYSC National Directorate, Maitama, Abuja for verification after registering on-line.
  • You are expected to indicate the state where you will pick your call-up letter.
  • You are expected to collect your call-up letter on presentation of your international Travelling passport. Collection by proxy is not allowed.
  • You will also present your international travelling passport before you can register at the orientation camp.

NYSC Mobilization Time Table For 2014 Batch A

S/NO	Event	Date
1	Registration of Foreign-trained Nigerian Graduates	9th December, 2013 - 14th February, 2014
2	Submission of Masterlist. Screening/Vetting by Mobilization Officers.	6th - 11th January, 2014
3	Coding by ICT Department.	6th - 17th January, 2014
4	Delivery of Preliminary Printouts to Mob Dept/CPIs	20th - 22nd January, 2014
5	Return of Corrected Printouts by Institutions to Mobilization Dept.	29th - 31st January, 2014
6	Correction of errors and printing of call-up letters by ICT Dept.	3rd - 23rd February, 2014
7	Sorting and Packaging of Call-up letters by ICT Dept.	24th - 28th February, 2014
8	Delivery of Call-up letters to Institutions / NYSC Secretariats	3rd - 5th March, 2014
9	2014 Batch ‘A’ Orientation Course	11th March - 1st April, 2014