CORPER OF THE NORTH – Chapter Two

Being a Corp member, popularly known as “Corper’ opens a person up to so many opportunities but sometimes, we don’t value those opportunities. If you missed out on chapter one, read it here.

CHAPTER TWO – CAMP LIFE 1

As Fortunate, Gino and I arrived at camp, we went from one search party to the other. The first set of soldiers we had to pass through searched our bags. The second set of soldiers were recording seized items like socket extensions. We had to fill out some documentation before we were directed to the hall where we collected our mattresses. I must commend them; they had manageable mattresses. Although some other people would not agree with me. They would rather say that I got lucky.

So, we collected our mattresses, and our load multiplied. We had our bags to carry and at the same time, our mattresses. The annoying thing was that we could not trust anyone but ourselves. Then, we noticed some little kids who were helping people like us to carry some of their load for a small price. One walked up to us and offered to help. He was so young but it surprised me the kind of load he could carry.

We got to the female hostel and Fortunate and I had to part ways with Gino, who continued to move towards the male hostel. Inside the female hostel, we were directed by someone who seems like to matron to one of the rooms. When we entered, we observed that the room was almost full. We checked the next room and it was free. We were the first ladies to enter the room and because of that, we got to choose a better bed space. I chose one with a wall socket and nice ventilation. Fortunate’s bed space was beside mine. We made our beds and prepared to rest. I thought that I should go to fetch a bucket of water and take my bath but before I could figure out where to start, I slept off.

That was the shortest sleep I have ever had. Before I knew what was happening, I heard a loud sound from my sleep. Immediately, I woke up and saw ladies in the room, getting dressed and running outside. I was confused. I wondered how the room got filled up so fast.

‘”What’s happening?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” Fortunate replied.

I picked up my phone to check the time. It was a few minutes past 4am.

“Jesus! It’s so early. Where is everybody running to?” I stood from my bed and peeped outside the room. I saw many ladies who were also running outside the hostel. Some of them just had their baths and they were running back into their rooms with their buckets. I noticed that many of the ladies were on white T-shirts and white shorts while a few others were on mufti. I was part of the people on mufti and I noticed that most of us did not understand what was going on.

“Favour, let’s follow these people that are running outside. If everybody leaves we can’t remain here.”

At that moment, we heard the loud sound again. This time, it sounded like the person who was playing it was standing very close to us. Immediately, I saw a female soldier walk out of one of the rooms shouting, “Make una come outside before I catch you. (Come out before I catch you.)”

She looked angry. I ran back into the room and grabbed my waist pouch. I knew it was almost time to start running. The female soldier burst into the room and started yelling as she chased us all out.

“Una don dey craze ba? Wetin dey happen for this room. Make una fall out sharp-sharp! (Are you ladies mad? What are you still doing in this room? Run out this moment!)” The female soldier yelled out.

I ran like my life depends on it and I didn’t look back. Since I was still on mufti, it was easier to identify that I was new to the system. We ran out of the room, towards the gate and met another female soldier standing by the gate. She looked angrier than the first. When we got to the gate, she asked us to squat. It seems like we came out too late. I didn’t know what we were coming out for but I knew we were late already and we were punished for that.

“Una nor dey fear ba? Abi? Una think say na play we come play for here? (You are not scared, right? Do you think we are here to play?) The second soldier yelled.

She walked through the crowd of squatting ladies and spotted one lady. The soldier laughed and said, ” See your face. You dey do full makeup for camp. (Look at your face. You had put on full makeup while in camp.)”

Immediately, all our attention was drawn to that one lady. She was on what we all ‘a bridal makeup’. I don’t know what she was trying to hide on her face but whatever it was, she was dedicated to hiding it from everyone. I glanced at my phone and it was almost 4:30am. I wondered if she had even slept. Applying makeup is time-consuming but by 4:30am, at a campsite, a lady had applied complete makeup and she looked like a bride in a  white T-shirt and shorts.

After yelling at us, the soldier eventually let us go. We ran out into the tarred road. We were still inside the campsite but I had no idea where we were running to. I just followed the crowd. As we were running, some boys ran past us. They were being chased by some soldiers. I guess they were also late, as we were. I saw one of them running with a toothbrush and sachet of water. It was a funny sight.

I followed the crowd and we ended up on a big field. I saw many people who were wearing white T-shirts and shorts. The brightness of their whites could light up a dark room. They were all lined up. I couldn’t join in the line because it felt weird. Everyone was wearing something white while I was wearing something black. I tried to locate the other people who were as confused as I was. Within minutes, we were all lined up accordingly. Those on white T-shirts were lined up in front of us. There was a big gap between those on white and those on mufti.

I couldn’t help but notice a small-looking soldier. He would walk in the gap from the start of the line to the end, raining insults on us. He called us ‘unbelievers’.
And he called those wearing a white T-shirt, ‘White fowls’. At first, I felt it was insulting until I realised that it was just a common slang that the soldiers used to differentiate between the new and old campers. We had what seemed like a morning devotion. After that, some Man O’ War officials came in and before I knew what was happening, we were jogging around the campsite, singing some very funny songs.

“Is this what camp is about?” I asked myself.

After exercising our bodies, we returned to our various hostels. I quickly took my bath before something else happens. Not long after, I heard the same loud sound that had woken me up. It had a different melody but I could tell that it was the same instrument.

“What’s that sound?”
I asked.

“It’s time for food.” A random lady said. I noticed that some ladies carried their food flasks along with them as they went for food. Many of them were holding what seemed like a small card. It was their meal ticket. I didn’t have one and so, I couldn’t get food. I wasn’t worried because I could always buy food from the  Mami market. That morning, I was more concerned about completing my clearance and getting my NYSC uniform.

Fortunate and I got dressed and we were set to leave. I dialled Gino’s phone number and told him to meet us in front of the female hostel. After a while, we were on our way to complete our camp clearance. It was a long and tiring line. At that moment, I remembered that my dad’s friend had asked me to call him to help us with the clearance. I considered the offer and I was so close to dialling his phone number but I waved off the thought. I told myself that I was in camp and I would go through each process patiently so that I can have a story to tell.

After waiting for some minutes, I finally got my turn. I was given a registration number and platoon. I was put in platoon 5, Fortunate in platoon 4 and Gino in platoon 10. Gino would have been in platoon 3 but he skipped his line and he got to the clearance officer faster than Fortunate and I.

After getting our platoon numbers, we were directed to another office where we were given the NYSC Rules handbook, our uniform and meal tickets.
I was hoping to get my uniform. I would always refer to it as ‘The Green Uniform’ but I was disappointed because of the size. I was given a uniform that was almost three times my original size. It was annoying because I had specified my size while registering for the program. When I complained, I was told that the uniforms were made in one size. Even my boots were oversize. I am a size 7 but I got a size 9. I had to look for someone who owns a size 7 but needs a size 9. After asking almost everybody, I met a guy with a size 8 shoe and he needed a size 9. I advised myself that size 8 was better than a size 9 and so, I took it.

It was time to deal with my oversized uniform. I went to the tailors’ section in the Mami market and I was told that to adjust my uniform, I’ll have to pay N1500 (One thousand and five hundred Naira). It was too expensive but what choice did I have? I paid and they did was seemed like an adjustment. The trouser didn’t fit well but I couldn’t complain because the man had lots of uniforms to amend. The next day was our Swearing-in parade and we all had to wear our uniforms for the event. That was where we got properly sworn into service and earn the name, ‘Corpers’.

After completing everything, Fortunate, Gino and I were asked to change into our white T-shirts and join the other ‘White fowls’. We refused. We lurked around the Mami market until we heard the same loud sound. This time, we saw the soldier who was playing the instrument that could make such a loud sound. I didn’t know what it was called but I called it a short trumpet.

It was time for the evening parade/rehearsals. Other Corpers were running towards the field. The three of us were still on mufti so we acted as if we were not Corpers. We sat in one of the stores in the Mami market,  discussing our journey. One of the soldiers walked up to us and yelled, ” Wetin una dey do for here? Make una go field sharp-sharp. (What are you guys doing here? Run to the field right now!)”

We acted as if he was not talking to us. We had put on our NYSC-branded caps during the clearance process to protect our faces from the sun. We forgot to take it off and that was how the soldier was able to identify us even when we were on mufti.

__________
Learn from what had happened to the three of us. It’s NOT okay to just decide to skip or escape from your duty.

Trust me, it wasn’t a nice experience.  The moment we realised that we were busted, we ran into the field. I guess our escape plan had failed.

…to be continued.

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