Three weeks in Rivers state camp: the pains, the pleasures and the love affairs

My excitement as a corper

3 WEEKS IN RIVERS STATE CAMP: The pains, the pleasures and the love affairs.
(A personal account)

16/08/2019
23:00pm
Tick tick tick..the hands of the clock crawled.
Boom! Boom! Boom! My heart panted.

17/08/2019
00:02
Finally!
It's time to download my call up letter.
Expectant+ excited+ joyful +sprinkles of fear= what I felt.

Network and NEPA didn't disappoint. In seconds,  I had my call up letter downloaded.

My joy was the like the feeling you get when you eat the bottom pot of sweet jollof rice. I had always dreamt of serving in Cross River state.  My heart  was filled with thanksgiving to God. 'The God that answereth my NYSC posting...!'

That very moment, the beautiful places I have read about came alive in my imaginations. The exotic and assorted foods I would eat there made my mouth watered. Didn't Uncle Aniefiong say that any Calabar lady can snatch the husbands of those who didn't know how to cook?   Even more! I was going to be there live at Calabar Carnival 2019.
I further fed my happiness with 2 hours of research on Cross Rivers state. I was damn enthusiastic.
I had a pressing burden in my heart to check again. I did. I discovered my letter didn't come with a 'Cross'.
I was actually posted to Rivers state.

9:00 am

I woke up and checked again. It was not a  nightmare. I shared the news with my family and friends. They were happy but I was sad. The preparation of the 3 weeks of my life as a 'white fowl' began.

The main gist.

Location: NYSC PERM. ORIENT. CAMP, NONWA-GBAM TAI LGA RIVERS STATE

What you see at the entrance of the camp

The Pleasures/ good times

1. Rivers state camp was beautiful!

If you are ever going to serve in Rivers state camp, then know that that whole gist or rumours you have heard about NYSC camps having dirty toilets, bathrooms, choked up prisons for accommodation are myths as regards Rivers State camp (well, when I served).  Someone once said ' Don't spread with your mouth, what your eyes didn't see'. Na wetin I see, I dey talk so. They may be true but not so in Rivers camp, at least not when I served. By the way, I stayed in the neatest hostel. We got the neatest hostel accolades 3 times straight and obviously, best overall. Hostel D(1) for the wins! 😍🎉🎊😇. There was also good water supply. If one didn't bath, it was definitely not because there's no water.

There were days, I and my 'sidee' HOT CAKE as I fondly call her, laughed out loud and repeated over and over again.
' This is not the type of camp they have been telling us about'.

The camp food was also okay! I will rate it 60%. Watery ( unsweet) beans and half-cooked rice didn't exist on the menu. What really existed that I ate and was annoying was the bland ogbono soup and egusi soup (which always tasted as if they used already used burnt pot to cook it). Aside from that, one can certainly save money as regards food matters by eating from the kitchen.
Days we had rice (jollof rice especially) the queue was always long. I wasn't able to figure out if it was because corpers were broke on those days or the taste was fantastic. The queue sometimes ehn reached the hostels.

The incumbent Director-General, Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim gave us a cow and monetary gifts when he came visiting. 

2.Mami Market
Repeat after me if you believe😊
 'Food is good'
'God has blessed with good food in Nigeria',
'Food is a necessity'.

If you ever find camp food boring or your system reacts negatively to it...mami market is a good alternative. Don't bother snacking, enter Mami Market and eat well. I was a frequent visitor at the boli and fish stand. Those people made the best boli and fish I have ever tasted yet. It was served with red (palm) oil slightly peppery delicious sauce accompanied with complimentary water to aid digestion.

The boli and fish at Rivers State camp. 

Another meal that got my taste bud was  Native soup with hot yellow eba. It had lots of periwinkles and stockfish. The soup had the texture of Oha soup but tasted like pepper soup. They had delicious coconut rice there. My friend had that from the first day of camp till the last.  If you are from the west, too bad, they only had a lady who made Amala with Efo riro!. Just ask for Iya Ayo.

Have you tasted popcorn made with milk and sugar?

They had it there too. Only that you had to eat it with a spoon like an extreme English man.  Avoid Mami market in the mornings(just my piece of advice) because that's when the aroma is always strong.

4.Aside food...

There were over 1000 things I did at Mami market (when the day was dark especially) and in camp.  In Rivers camp, Mami market was basically where the fun and enjoyment were.  Hmm..that's also a place to be productive. There were lots of handworks to learn ranging from bead making, bag making hat making to make up for as low as 3k. I added that to my SAED skill as a bonus.

There are lots and lots of interesting and good books to buy too on almost all subjects. One could make out time to read. I bought  4 books while in camp and I finished them. So there was time.

One of the books I got in camp.

If you ever get to charge your phones at Mami market and forget  to pick it before 9:45, fear not...you will get it back in one bit by 7/8 am the next morning
SAED (Skills Aquisition and Entrepreneurship Development) and lectures were must! Sleeping was optional. We were taught the customs and traditions of the different people in Rivers State.  We had language lectures, HIV lectures, condom lectures, security lectures, EFFC lectures etc. Some lectures were the definitions of boredom.

5. People, people and.people...you will meet good and good people in the camp, some include people you'll engage within serious conversations or live with and you'll realise you've been myopic on certain matters all your life. That's one of the beauties of camp.

6 .Nccf

Forsake not the gathering of the be brethren...
Yeah!
Nccf Rivers was always there to shower corpers with love. They had guest speakers to talk to corpers on lots of issues including relationship, job and PPA. One guest speaker, I can't forget in a hurry is Pastor Wisdom Osiri. They gave occasional refreshments like gala and drink. They charged our phones for free. They helped with withdrawals and deposits at no extra cost. They were also there for counselling. God bless NCCF. If you are ever going to serve in Rivers State, please attend the fellowship. They help spiritually, emotionally and physically.

7.Fun productive groups to join.

OBS, Lecture committee, Red cross, Sanitation (drop 1, pick 1000) etc. I didn't join the parade most times because I was in one

Team Sanitation! We kept the camp clean all through

Sanitation carninal day: all work and no play...

Also running or participating in sports or inter-platoon competition is good.
You will be duly compensated in either cash or kind.

 Soldiers and camp officials are human beings like you!

If you're good, obedient and don't try to play on their intelligence, you all are good to go.

Pains/ Bad times

8. Light out is spoiler!.
Yes, oh...sleeping by 10:00 PM was a must!. We making noise after 10:00PM meant we were simply daring the soldiers. Daring soldiers at that time of the day meant the entire hostel would sleep on the field in the cold weather under the stars.  Funny how one could be on the same table or their table beside yours and the moment they blow that burgle, the harsh differences between the military and the civilian would be manifested. Just dare! In my Camp commandant words 'let devil baptize you!' and take a  sip or take another gulp or even ask for your change,  Na frog jump to the hostel or 'double up' like lightning be the person portion. It's a long-distance by the way.

9. Hot water is expensive.
The weather in Rivers state was freaking cold. At 8 am you could still see fog in the sky. About 3liters of hot water cost N100, bathe that twice daily, times 21 days. What you get is not so expensive if you are in camp with plenty of money. So come with enough money. Most things were really expensive. To slim fit an 'agbada' khaki cost N2000, rubber food flask that won't even keep food warm was N500, small bowl 'bailer' that you will use to pour water on your body was N350, jeans was N2000-3000, etc, some food were even expensive. Thankfully NYSC came through, they regulated all prices, pasted the price list around camp, thereby reducing the exploitation.

10. River(s) is associated with water right?
The rivers fall from the sky most times. Some part of the land was seesaw shaped or even zigzag as a result of soil erosion. Rubber canvas was my best footwear in camp and thankfully I had enough white clothing that prevented me from going to the parade ground naked on days my clothes didn't dry.

The weather On camp was always too sunny or Rainy.

March the legs out!
Ha!
March in the morning, March in the afternoon, march in the evening.  Man O war drills too!  Some people were indeed born for that and unfortunately not me. If before camp, you've been looking for ways to tighten your thighs or any part of your body, then ensure you march.

11. Thieves
In one of the camp officials words 'If you are one of those who whenever you pass somewhere, people items use to glue to your body, be warned because if we catch you...'
What weren't some corpers capable of stealing?
Someone stole a wig!
Wig!
Wig!
Ha!
Soldiers were informed and that day, I can never forget what the soldiers had us go through.

12.
Be fit/boost your immune system before  camp.

The little weight I gained from my regular boli and fish were lost on the sickbed 3 days before camp ended. I'm alive is still a miracle. That night...I could not breathe,  I could barely walk and my eyes were heavy and red hot. I was placed on admission ,given injections and forced to sleep. The pain was so bad that I couldn't even sleep. The next afternoon, it's was like nothing ever happened. I can't count the number of corpers that fainted, were sent home, taken to general hospitals or given blood transfusions in camp.
That's why NYSC is always ringing it every year...' Medical certificate of Fitness'. They should also be adding 'Boost your immune system, come with mosquito nets and malaria drug'  They are very essential.

Love affairs
Hmm...
It truly existed.
NYSC even encourages this. They support the wedding of corpers financially who met themselves in camp with a whooping sum of 5 million naira ( na rumour oh)

Love and lust  groomed in camp truly existed.

 The true Strenght of all relationships started in camp is known after Camp.  It can Either be 'Out Of sight, Out Of mind' Or ' absence makes the Heart Grow fonder'

This whole gist reminds me of what my friend (an ex-corper)  told me.

It’s people like you that camp was made for cause I don’t see any fun in that sh******e. It’s dehumanizing Biko.

He is not lying ( based on where he served).

Notwithstanding, if truly the vision of NYSC is what I have been taught in camp, the government still have a lot of work to do in camps across the country and places of primary assignment.  I hear some places are living hell


One lesson, just one, if you ask me that I took out of the 3 weeks of been held hostage, orientated on serving my father's land is this;

My service to my country, my wellbeing, my health, my job and happiness aren't dependth on the government of my country'. It is dependent on a higher force.

Hope you enjoyed your ride in my boat to Rivers State camp?
Are you an ex corper, a prospective corp member,  a corper or one of those who've vowed never to serve or just won't serve, what is your view on the 3 weeks orientation camp? I will like to hear your juicy tales.

Corper weee O
Waaa!
Written by :

Your patriotic serving corper
Munu Ogheneochuko Sarah.