The first few days were hell. As soon as i walked through the gates of the camp, a soldier ordered me to put my suitcase on my head or frog jump, i revolted and said i was doing neither and he retorted that i did not even know what i came to camp for. Luckily i escaped that ordeal but i will keep the process to myself.

After registration, it was time to get accommodation and some lady said if i could pay N10,000 and get 5 other girls, she would get us a special room. I jumped at the offer cause i didn't want to be cramped in a room with 40somn girls (reminded of boarding house). Got the girls, paid the lady and went on to see the room. It turned out it was a storage room we were being offered. No beds, no lights, no curtains, no carpet…..the horror. But we had paid and there was no turning back. That night, 6 girls slept on 5 mattresses, on the floor, no light, no fan, mosquitoes buzzing in ur ear and every other unimaginable thing.

Around 4:00am i heard some type of trumpet thing and the girls said it was time to wake up and go to the parade ground….WHAT? you're joking. No, they were serious. Girls who came the day b4 hurried to the corridors to take their baths (yeah, we had to bathe outside among other girls), i wasn't about take my bath outside in front of girls, i did that long ago. Time was passing and all of a sudden we heard shouts…”get out”, “if you're still sleeping, you are wrong”, “don't let me catch you there” and other random stuff….that was the beginning of camp for me.

I adjusted to the camp way of life, eating at mammy market, meeting very very random people, waking up at 4:00am and bathing on the corridor with cold water…..it was fun in the end, if i had a chance to go back, i would but i'd be a day student…lol

Corper's really get paid peanuts because the companies see you as cheap labour. I was lucky to be posted to etisalat and they pay well (even though its not comparable to what i was earning back in the US) but its the highest a corper can be paid 50k. NYSC gives an allowance of N9775 monthly which they do not pay in on time.

True, NYSC is about service but in the long run, you want to be retained by the company you served with. If you go and teach in a school in kebbi state, do you want to be retained by the school? NO. If NYSC was really what it sought out to be, people would not mind being posted anywhere, cause they would be rest assured that after the one year, they would get well paying jobs. But people are scared.

Again, corpers are getting killed in most of this northern states. A female corper was killed in borno state cause she was in her NYSC uniform (khaki trousers and jacket). She was raped and left for dead. 2 male corpers were killed in another state. During the 2008 jos riots, corpers were killed because the indigenes knew that they were 'otondos' (journey just come) and they were definitely strangers, so it was alright to kill them. No one wants to have to go through nay of that so they'd rather serve in states where they know that they would be safe.

Although i am not serving in one of those states that require the service, i am making a contribution to the welfare of others in my CD(community development)group. I am glad i served, i wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I strongly recommend you guys to serve!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!