AWGU AND ALL SHADES OF WHITE

The title couldn't be more obvious. A wilding narrative about 3 weeks in Awgu🙂. 

This whole saga began on the 22nd of November 2023. NYSC was knocking on my door but I was oblivious and what not. Wednesday afternoon, on my way to church, what could possibly go wrong? Nothing, absolutely nothing until your call up letter pops up on your screen. 

I wasn't enthusiastic about NYSC but I wasn't aloof either, there was this tension, this thick cloud of doubt hovering over my head because everyone but myself wanted me to serve in Kaduna, close to my parents; the very people I want to live outside of but guess who's serving in Kaduna now? Yass queen! It's Temiloluwa Adetola *laughs in heartbreak*. But before we get to Kaduna, what's going to happen; keep reading to find out😎💅.

I started developing this habit of not checking my phone in the mornings until I was done with all my chores, it works but it can set you up also and people of God, that's what set me up that very Wednesday afternoon. I turned on my data in the car as we were riding to church and I started seeing news of people being posted to weird states flying about WhatsApp ; Call up letter had been out since morning and Temiloluwa didn't find out until afternoon. My palms are usually sweaty but that day it flowed like a fountain, the situation was getting real. I logged into my portal and clicked the Call up letter link...

Dear compatriot, I am happy to inform you that by the provisions of NYSC Act Cap N84 of the laws of the...you should report as follows:

State of deployment: Enugu.

'Enugu! Enugu!! Enugu!!!' I took in a deep breath after reading through the letter and screamed internally. I've had the opportunity to visit 4 out of the 6 geopolitical zones in Nigeria and trust me when I tell you that the DG definitely knew I had never been to the South-East before, ever in my life!😭

I broke the news to my mother and she gave a small laugh as response, I laughed with her not because my posting was funny but because I was going quite far and it was sort of heartbreaking. Saturday came and before I knew it I was on a train headed to Abuja where I boarded a plane going to Akanu Ibiam International airport, Enugu. I was on the queue for boarding in the Abuja airport when a young man walked up behind me and asked me "Is this Ibom air to Enugu?" "Yes" I replied, he then asked; " Are you going there for NYSC orientation camp?" And I replied "yes" again. He heaved a sigh of relief as if to say 'Oh, thank God you are here.' He introduced himself to me and I did the same too, we got talking and exchanged phone numbers, Ladies and all others, that's how I made my first friend. It became an obvious sign that God had a hand in this journey when my new friend and I discovered that our sheets were beside each other! I learned my first lesson; God will never leave you in the desert without water.

I've had the opportunity to visit 4 out of the 6 geopolitical zones in Nigeria and trust me when I tell you that the DG definitely knew I had never been to the South-East before, ever in my life!

We arrived Enugu and made our way to Awgu town because that's where the NYSC orientation camp was located. People of earth, the road to that camp was on a different level, it felt like it was not going to end. The road that led right to the gate of the camp was hilly and as I write this I subtly remember going up and down that hill every morning and evening. Activities were already in full swing by the time we arrived. My luggage was checked at the gate and I was given a job sheet; a small paper where all the stages of registration and documentation were listed out with spaces for the officials in charge to give a remark and sign, it helped in tracking everything that needed to be done. After retrieving my job sheet, I met a lady who was apparently a laundry person in the camp, in my head I was so sure I wouldn't need her services but when it was one week and few days in I realized that washing your clothes yourself was a good as setting yourself up for a heartbreak, Ladies and every other person, I patronized this aunty twice before leaving camp,haeww😂💔. From the gate I proceeded to the clinic, got cleared then I went to the hostel officials who assigned me to a hostel, I hunted for a room and got a fairly okay bed space with a beat down mattress in the last room in that hostel. I proceeded to the registration hall where my life on the camp started, swiftly but painfully.

I am free to say that God will bless the person that told me 8 photocopies of each of my documents would be okay because I didn't even use up to four photocopies of each document, isn't God great?

The first registration step was the screening of documents and a particular somebody didn't print her addendum from the portal so she had to go and print it at the camp's market, guess how much she paid just to print a 2-paged document; 500 naira!😭 It was there and then I knew somebody was out for my blood because why you go charge tiri thousand naira for bus! Jesus! This bus? The problem was that I didn't have a choice and I ended up paying 500 naira to print 2 pages of a document in black and white *cries in ẹkun egbére*. As if that wasn't enough, I struggled at the second registration stage which was the ICT sẹ̀rẹ́rẹ̀; biometrics, collection of state code, and collection of meal ticket. The mama that was attending to my line made it a point of duty to ascertain if you finished from higher institution or not before she issued anything to you, shey I'll be in front of you if I didn't spend 4 years struggling for BSc. I spent a good 2 to 3 hours on that queue but I be overcomer!🤭.

I went back to my hostel after the whole hustle because it was nighttime and man oh man I was freaking exhausted. "Good evening" I greeted my roommates with a slight bow and a lady replied "Good evening. Are you yoruba?" I replied 'yes' and she went on about how she knew I was yoruba; the bow that accompanied my greeting. I laughed silently as I put my things away, night fell and it was the first day.

The next day came and my time in Orientation camp started counting, I did my documentation and got my kit. It was when I resumed my platoon people decided to start discussing cultural dance; me that can't move to save my life, I quickly volunteered to drum; this occurred probably two days after I arrived camp. During rehearsals our platoon leader suddenly had this crazy acrobatics idea because we were representing Igbo culture in the cultural dance competition, apparently everything or every camp activity done is an inter platoon competition; a disguised bloodbath if you ask me *laughs*. Back to the acrobatics, I eventually ended up there because I'm small and can be easily lifted, isn't God great? We did well of course èmi ọmọ ológo dey among them🤭😎.

Quickly, steadily but also seeming like forever, the first week passed with it's highlight being the swearing in ceremony where they spread us out in the sun and turned me two shades darker. My platoon was on a roll, everything we did was met with either 1st, 2nd or 3rd positions, crazy right? It's safe to say that in Enugu NYSC batch C stream ii orientation camp, Platoon 2 had the most wins, yippee!💅😁.

I was lucky enough to meet my friend on camp, we attended the same secondary school and the same university. Sisters and all others, I stick to the fact that when God has a plan for you it comes to fruition. Week 2 began and I represented my platoon In debate and yes of course, your girl smashed it🤭😉. The lectures seemed to never end and in no time the second week ended with my platoon still taking leads.

Week 3!!! It felt surreal that I was going home soon after all Awgu brought it's A-game with being hilly and all. Over the time I spent, I interacted with people in ways that were subtly impossible for me in times past, talk about some improvement. I made friends , I made people laugh and I was given a nickname: "Baby Corper" by someone I'll label as my future sponsor *laughs*. The activities were coming to a decline and everyone was ecstatic, it was admits this ecstasy I developed a crush on this Lagos man but what use is crushing on a man, a man from Lagos at that! Omo! Once bitten, twice shy. I am still battling with the aftermath of falling in love with an Ekiti man who grew up in Lagos; double wahala for dead body.

Little by little, I anticipated my exit from Awgu but then what's life without a little drama? The last week came and a rumour about a Sit-at-home was going round; a Sit-at-home meant there was to be no movement on that day and this rumour was circulating a day after we were supposed to exit camp that meant no travelling would occur on that day. Everyone was so bothered about the news that they had no choice but to release us a day before the original day; so technically I spent 20 days in Camp instead of 21 days, I was glad and I got to spend an extra day in Enugu before retreating back to Kaduna for the remaining 11 months doing work for the government.

Orientation camp wasn't as bad as anticipated majorly because of the people I met and the friends I made, it was real and I was able to bask in it.

My dear Lagos man, if you read this just know that I liked you because you are tall, dark, handsome and can speak Yoruba quite well. That's it!

Awgu came, I saw it and probably conquered it in my own way.

Bye for now and till next time.👋👋

Love always,

Adétọ́lá❤️

Hey there my lovelies ❤️

I'm sorry it took this long to gist you about my Awgu orientation camp experience😭.

A really dramatic tale of my 3 weeks orientation camp in Enugu state.

It was a time filled with thrills and hills😉.

Thank you for reading as always and stay Jiggy.

The musical Stories for this round are letters to my Lagos man😎🥰.

Skin and Bones by David Kushner

Souvenir by Selena Gomez

See you soon!❤️