MY NYSC CAMP THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS 1

From my 2021 NYSC diary

I was posted to Kwara State and I had my orientation camp in the Yikpata camp. Based on my experience here are some of my observations and thoughts.

1. Most graduates are not ready for the world of work.

It is very common to meet people that have no idea of what they want to do now that they are graduates. Most of them just want to report to their Primary Place of Assignment PPA and collect 33,000Naira monthly though the service year. Most corp members think it is too early to worry about the future.

We all know that failure to plan is associated to planning to fail. This is the time where I feel worried about the future of the country. Contrary to the mirage on LinkedIn where all seems to go well with young people leading in their fields. This isn't however a fallacy but the ratio of the unprepared to the prepared is definitely something to worry about.

2. Dear young social entrepreneur into education and career development your target market is on Facebook.

In this era, personal branding is not a new term. Although it might be confused with professional branding due to the rapid increase in social media influencers and brand ambassadors. The fast-growing job title might be gone in a few decades, or not. It might interest you to know that a lot of Nigerian graduates use Facebook when compared to other social media platforms. I stopped using social media some years back due to the absence of intelligent conversations in the comment section and the clear absence of a presentable personal brand. However, your target market uses this software. Go! Divide!! and Conquer!!!

3. Climate Change is real!

Climate change is no news and the news of climate change sounds like yen, yen, yen, But as a 2021 Batch C Stream 2 corp member I experienced all shades of extreme weather. I could sleep with the temperate at 27 degree Celsius and wake up with it at 19 degrees Celsius with varying humidity levels and a sprinkle of sandstorms occurring periodically.

4. Most graduates that spoke a Nigerian language fluently found it difficult to communicate in English Language.

I don't know if this is a Linguistic problem. Just my observation.

5. Nigerians are impatient!

Well it didn't show as the popular "get rich quick syndrome" since most of the sellers in the Mami market were not corp members. Certainly "no gree for anybody" existed before the campaign started earlier in 2024. It was obvious on the food queue. Yep! I ate some of the food served in camp and supplemented with snacks and food from the market.

It was not common to stand on the morning queue for 3 to 5 minutes without someone entering your front as you get closer to the serving point (I guess that is how life is).

In most situations, they had a pair of legs that functioned well like mine so the impatience didn't make sense to me.        

6. Peer Pressure is real!

This showed in various situations but for the most prominent, "wait until they share relocation form".

7. Corruption!

I will write this from two perspectives. It could be a function of the leadership in an organization. During my time on camp, it was preached against like a plague. During my time on camp (arrival, stay and departure) no Staff asked me for money and I was happy about that.

On the posting letter, there were alphabet sequences. I don't know if they are still relevant but here are some of the meanings.

C- Consensus

H- Relocated on health grounds

M- Relocated for marriage or marriage-related reasons

A- Automatic (posted by NYSC)

E- (no idea what it means)

R- Requested

Do you think they are correct?

8. Your health and hygiene should be your priority.

For you to be mobilized for camp it means "you are not a baby". So hug, shake and make body contact with people at your own risk. Especially in camps with water-related issues. Also, I don't know think open defecation is talked about enough.

9. Water is underrated and clean water is even more underrated!

It was during my time on camp that I realized that SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation does not get as much attention as it deserves. I can't talk much because the experience is the explanation. I pray you don't experience it. For my hygiene and sanity, I negotiated and outsourced major laundry throughout my stay on camp. 5,000 for 3 weeks.

10. Poverty is a mindset and so is suffering

A number of people have been through a lot and it has affected their definition of "normal". To some, suffering in any form, shape and size feels like a norm. Pathetic!

Article from my 2021 diary.

Watch out for the second part.