Hi people!
Camp is finally over! I had heard of tales of how your first week in camp is so terrible, second week, you begin to adjust and make wonderful friends and then in the final week, you have so much fun and you cry when it is time to part ways. Well, all that happened except the crying part. We were too busy queuing up to get our posting letters and the only tears were probably from those posted to awful places of primary assignment.
I’d like to say goodbye by giving you details of a typical day in Ipaja…
3:30am
You begin to hear sounds of your roommates’ alarms going off. If you are like me and you are hardly disturbed by noise, you manage to go back to bed.
4.00am
People are very much awake and at least 18 of your 29 roommates are already taking their buckets and heading for one of the 4 bathrooms on the floor.
4:30am
The beagle goes off. For those who don’t know what this is, I’ll attempt an explanation. It is a very annoying horn-like sound which is blown by a soldier known as the beagler. It is blown to wake us all up but as my roommates will testify, by Day 6, I was immune to it. My bunkee and I would sleep through it, Live!
5.00am
5 aggressive and angry female soldiers begin screaming expletives at those still in the hostel. Trust me, I have always known this but my 3 weeks in the Ipaja camp have proved that women are way meaner than their male counterparts. They would scream at us mercilessly. The good thing is that they never lay their hands on you. All they do is threaten to pour water on you for oversleeping. NB: If you want to enjoy your stay on camp, never, I repeat NEVER get rude to any soldier or in fact ANYBODY. Be very polite and courteous no matter how tempted you are. If you must scream, do so but into your pillow and in the solace of your room.
5:20am
We are all assembled on the parade ground. The camp director begins,
‘Genroomen corps members, good morning’ (NB: both guys and girls are addressed as ‘gentlemen’ and it is always morning in the camp. Even at 7pm, they say good morning.
After a brief run through of what the day has in store, the Platoon on duty has a Christian representative and also a Muslim one to pray. Thereafter, someone from the platoon offers a word of encouragement/charge/wisdom etc. This is known as ‘Meditation’. Basically, it is something to get you thinking.
5:40am
We begin my favourite part of the morning: Drills!!! This is usually led by a member of the Man o’ War. In our camp, the same mix tape was used everyday for three weeks except the day the camp commandant decided our drills were to consist of frog jumps and the very last day of camp. It starts thus, ‘DJ Kamee Kamee Koma Kalo‘ then proceeds with a song that goes ‘wind for me…’ The morning exercises are very interesting as people sing along as they immitate the moves of whoever is in front leading.
6.00am
We all stop whatever we are doing. Why? you ask. Well, Nigeria is waking up so we stand at attention as the horn is blown by a soldier. As soon as he is done, exercise continues.
6:15am
Gyration starts! These are some of the songs chants we had:
I call am call am she no gree
I call am call am she no answer
When I tell am, I’m a soldier
She say make I buy am something
(Wetin I buy am?)
I buy am apoche
I buy am miniskirt o
I buy am rubber sandals….
Say Iya Bose —-Iya Bose Iya Bose
Say Omolara—Omolara Omolara
Soldier sings:
Ehhhh zero your mind
eeeeeeh zero your mind
Alawee no dey, zero your mind
alawee no dey, zero your mind
Corpers respond:
Eeeeeh yawa go dey
EeEEEEh yawa go dey
If alawee no dey yawa go dey
If alawee no dey yawa go dey
This is the way I wanted to be ooo
This is the way I wanted to be
Eeeeh I want to be a corper
Eeeeh I want to be a corper
Eh Eh Eh I want to be a corper
This is the way I wanted to be
The favourite of people was… ‘Hold somtin’
8am
Bath and breakfast
9am-2pm
Lecture on a selected topic
2-4pm
Lunch/Personal administration
4-6pm
Drills
6pm
The horn is blown signifying the close of the working day in Nigeria
6-10pm
Social activities
6-8pm
NCCF
10pm
Lights out
***
Camp was a truly wonderful place to be-I can only say this now from the comfort of my bed. I hated the bathroom situation with my entire being and I only did the deed twice in 3 weeks. On the flip side, I made lovely friends, met wonderful people, I even saw Chidi Mokeme *yes I love Chidi, fake accent and all*
Now, real life begins. Work begins. I wish every 2011 Batch A corper the very best this year. God bless you!
Here are some pictures…
TFC stand
people dancing at the LG stand
Where we eat at Mummy and Aunty Indomie's shop at Mammy
Where we eat toast
Musings of a Caramel Latte Addict 
Apr 01, 2011 @ 02:10:27
I say a big Well done and congratulations to you Temi it really was an experience for you as well as everybody involved.
No offence but appologies i’ll give later to you. Am not just smiling but actually laughing at most of your complaints you pointed out.
1.) Especially that part on: ……….If you want to enjoy your stay on camp, never, I repeat NEVER get rude to any soldier or in fact ANYBODY. Be very polite and courteous no matter how tempted you are. If you must scream, do so but into your pillow and in the solace of your room……… i think you met your match in the soldiers who will increase your dosage of purnishment through out the camp if you went far to say you needed more time to sleep beyond 4:30am. :-))
…….. Alawee no dey, zero your mind,
……….Eeeeeh yawa go dey,
……….If alawee no dey yawa go dey.
(very funny song lol, but an expensive one especially if the alawee is not paid in time NYSC office will be razed with otondos).
Hope you didnt spend your whole money in mammi market?
Apr 01, 2011 @ 02:52:07
Oh Temi! You had me in stitches!! :o)
All those songs brought back memories of my service year in Zamfara. What an experience!! We used to chant “Eyin le pe wa wa, fun ra yin le fajogbon” to the beagle just to irk the soldiers. My fav song/chant was “If corper marry soldier dem go born wowo” As crappy as camp conditions were, the experience was well worth it and like you pointed out, the friends you make are keepers.
That DJ Kamee Kamee mixtape is crazy. I bought it in traffic just before I left and the guy’s commentaries are pure hilarity. I play it when I miss naija and it always makes me laugh.
You’re not looking like an otondo corper in that pic oh! With your “Bella naija red carpet pose” *wink*
All the best.
Apr 01, 2011 @ 04:24:11
Lagos n Abuja Camp is always da bomb! Fellas in states like Yobe(I can see someone saying where is that, lol, its the second to last state on the list of Nigerian States. I actually had 2 buy a Map before heading out of Abuja) where I served never had d luxury of a good fast food joint for d whole 1year there. KFC stand got me so wishing I was not thrown to the Jungle. Congratulations Temi. Now Your Struggle Continues (NYSC). Bestest.
Apr 01, 2011 @ 04:45:32
Congratulations sis, camp is always a memorable experience. Infact, one of d best times of the entire service year. Your narrative had me rolling wit laughter; indeed those drill songs are nothing short on humorous esp “hold something”. Marching was it for me when i was at camp, d platoon commandant had a way of barking out orders; “Preyda, prey chun”…translation- Parade Attention. In all,its an experience not to be missed. Enjoy d rest of your service year.
Apr 01, 2011 @ 06:30:37
Congratulations sis, camp is always a memorable experience. Infact(my opinion), one of the best times of the entire service year. Your narrative had me rolling over with laughter; indeed those drill songs are nothing short on humorous especially “hold something”.
Marching was it for me when i was at camp, the platoon commandant had a way of barking out orders; “Preyda, prey chun”….translation – Parade Attention.
In all,its an experience not to be missed. Enjoy the rest of your service year
Apr 01, 2011 @ 08:05:58
Temi ooooo, Laff wan tear my belle!!!!! Thank God the 1st phase is over and the next begins. Wish you all the best hunnie!
Apr 08, 2011 @ 11:50:02
lol. Thanks guys
Apr 01, 2011 @ 08:23:39
loll I remember when I went to camp, didn’t make any new friends nothing. I just stuck with the friends I already had. I didn’t like camp one bit. I guess cos maybe I thought they were just making us suffer.
Anyways lovely blog, I follow it a lot. Do take care.
http://www.secretlilies.blogspot.com
Apr 01, 2011 @ 08:28:21
Nice 1, Temi…So where were you posted to?
Apr 01, 2011 @ 16:09:10
Too interesting. lol.
Apr 02, 2011 @ 08:23:12
Temi, didn’t you dance at the LG stand too or you only want to hide the snapshot of your dancing steps from us? I wish you a happy posting.
http://www.josephomotayo.blogspot.com/2011/03/nigerian-men-sizes.html
Apr 02, 2011 @ 12:53:46
Congrats Temi, You survived phase 1, now unto the next phase. I have to say i have enjoyed every bit of your experience in camp.
Good luck with NYSC.
http://mommyvillespot.com
Apr 02, 2011 @ 13:09:36
lmaooo…nysc camp ipaja..i miss all the gyration songs!!!
nice post n u captured that morning part well..hehe
wish u all the best too. 🙂
Apr 02, 2011 @ 22:07:08
No endurance trek?? Y na???
So aw ‘tanned’ r u now? And how many dress sizes have u dropped?
Thank God days on the Camp are well over. Welcome to phase 2 – living and working in Las G. Better luck love.
Well done!
Love lots.
http://www.thisisthediaryofanotmadblackwoman.wordpress.com
Apr 08, 2011 @ 11:46:27
Thanks nmbw…Endurance trek was great (i heard). I was away for that day…
Nov 26, 2011 @ 16:31:11
Really interesting post, your pictures make NYSC camp look like some really nice hotel. By the way, the 6am and 6pm attention calls were not just ‘to wake Nigeria up’, they were for the hoisting and lowering of the Nigerian flag. I’ve been really enjoying your posts, keep up the good work!
Nov 30, 2011 @ 06:08:14
thanks Wumzie…You’re right about the flag 🙂
Sep 12, 2012 @ 00:24:03
Wow! Nice post, Temi. I am about leaving for service this year, batch C….I so enjoyed reading your experience…it is sure going to help me too. Thanks for taking time to share your experience.
Sep 13, 2012 @ 06:29:59
Aww thanks Inem