The Foreign Otondo is a book written by
Kemi Ogunniyi, a communication/ business consultant, writer and editor, that serves as a guide for recent international based graduates who intend to return to Nigeria in order to participate in the National Youth Service Program in Nigeria.
We had earlier on written about the book in September but if you missed it,
Click Here.
Below is an excerpt taken from the book “The Foreign Otondo”:
CHAPTER 6
THE ORIENTATION CAMP
After receiving your call-up letter, you are expected to report to the orientation camp of the state you are posted to on the date specified on
the letter. You will reside there for a period of 3 weeks.
6.1 What To Take To Camp
Mosquito Net
It’s cheaper and easier to get one in Nigeria. If you’re getting a treated net, make sure you SPREAD IT OUT for about 2 days before you leave
for camp. A lot of us didn’t read the instructions that came with the nets and didn’t spread them outside before using at camp. This caused
face rashes, itchy eyes, etc. As for me I felt dizzy inside the net so I had to remove it and wash the next day to reduce the strength of the
chemicals. Treated nets are always better because they are like insect repellents, and could repel bed bugs (in case there are bugs around,
LOL, I know!).
Insect repellent cream or spray
You could get this from a pharmacy before you go to Nigeria. If your camp is like mine where you sit under trees for lectures and other
activities, tree organisms will love your sweet abroad blood and suck it well. Repellents will keep them away, even mosquitoes. Buy ones
that will last for hours so you can use on your skin from start of day. Baygon spray or any equivalent insect sprays will also come in handy
for spraying your room.
Drugs
Not illegal stuff o! I’m referring to Paracetamol, Ibuprofen etc. And make sure you get diarrhoea drugs too (I recommend Loperamide hydrochloride– marketed as Imodium in the UK). Trust me. Using that camp latrine or dirty toilet 3-5 times a day is not cool. You’re changing environments so there’s a good chance you might purge after feasting on camp or mammy market food. Please, please, please don’t go to camp without diarrhoea drugs especially if you have sensitive tummy. Imodium was like gold after Flagil wasn’t working for me. You might not even need it in the end but it’s better to be prepared for eventualities.
Also, don’t forget malaria drugs. Try as much as possible to get a preventive malaria treatment before leaving for camp.
Bath Pack, Personal Hygiene pack, Bath Slippers and Dettol (the big family size bottle).
Talking about bath packs, I advise that you use proper Nigerian soaps, and not the liquid moisturising ones we use abroad. This is just a personal preference though! The reason for this is, those liquid bath wash things we use in colder climates are meant to moisturise your skin. In hotter climates like Nigeria, you don’t need your bath things to moisturise you. You need something to keep you dry and prevent sweating. At camp you will be doing physical activities, getting punished by soldiers by squatting (LOL), etc. You will be in the sun most of the time, especially in the first week. You will sweat and sweat and stink to yourself at times. So I discovered using soaps kept me drier than using my good old Dove body wash. Sometimes you won’t even need to use body creams. Most times I just sprayed my insect repellent on my hands and legs after bath. Body creams will make you sweat a lot. Don’t forget the deodorants too, they’ll keep you dry. Tone down the perfume, or else, butterflies and bees will follow you around, especially if your camp is in a rural area.
Ladies, I would advise that you consider buying disposable/maternity panties. They are sold at most camp markets (mammy market). Water is a luxury at most camps, so washing your undies everyday won’t be easy. When you spread them they may even be stolen (oh yes!). Also, try as much as possible to bring black bras, and the sports bras are the best because for most of your time in camp, you would be doing physical exercises. Black bras will help you avoid any unwanted transparencies. Your white tees and shorts are like see-throughs. Not everyone wants to see your multi-coloured Victoria Secret bra and pants combo on parade ground.
Bucket
You could get this from the camp market. It should cost between 400 and 700 naira, depending on the state. Bed Pack – Pillows (if you must use one), Pillow Case, Blanket, Bed Sheet and Light Cover Cloth. NYSC supplies the mattress. This is my advice: buy a blanket and wrap it around your mattress. After this, spread your bed sheet over it. I advise this because you don’t know where those mattresses have been. Seriously, don’t take chances. Maybe I’m being extra…but prevention is better than cure. Also, in case you are posted to a state where the weather is hotter, make sure your cover cloth is light. There won’t be fan or AC in the room, you know. You may get a room with a fan but it’s rare.
Food Flask and Cutlery
You need those if you prefer camp food to mammy market food. Very unlikely though. You may also need them for morning cereals or your afternoon garri. Don’t assume they’ll serve you cereal at camp o. Silly you! I meant the cereal you would bring from home. The closest thing to cereal NYSC would serve you at camp is ogi (corn pap).The garri is very important! You would become so popular among your many roommates if you are the only one with lots of garri to spare.
Your White Shorts, White T-shirts, White Tennis and NYSC Khaki
When you see the white shorts and t-shirts NYSC has in store for you, you would be convinced that someone somewhere had planned and designed it so that you would look laughable in those 3 weeks. You are expected to wear those throughout the 3-week period, except on Sundays (morning till 6pm). When you leave the orientation camp, you may become so traumatised by white clothes; you wouldn’t be wearing any cloth in the colour white for a while! LOL. I got my whites in the UK – shorts from Sports World (Umbro ladies ‘white shorts), white ladies’ fitting t-shirts from Primark (about £2/£3each) and 2 pairs of white tennis shoes from Primark (about £2-£4 each). You should also sew your own Khakis – jacket and trousers. Most tailors in Nigeria know what they should look like. Most would also buy the cloth material for you. All you need do is pay them to sew you a pair or two. The combo should cost around N3000, although this would depend on the part of the country you’re in. The camp markets (mammy) also have skilful tailors who will sew within 24hours, should you forget to bring your own pair.
Waist Pouch
This is where you will put all your important stuff such as money, phone, etc. Your pouch will become your BFF in those 3weeks. You will eat and sleep together, go to the bathroom/toilet together, jog together, etc.
Torch / Flash light
Another Best Friend! You will go to the 2am latrine rounds together. Also when your camp booboo and friends see you off to your hostel, your torchlight will guide your way.
Passport Pictures
You will need these in camp so take 12 with you to be on the safe side. You could also opt to take passport pictures at the photographers’ shops in mammy market, but you will pay more because they know you need it desperately. It will also probably add to the stress of camp registration.
Important Documents
Make sure you take documents such as your call-up letter, international passport, school results, etc. -basically all the documents you took with you when you went to register at Abuja. You may need them for camp registration. Most people made sure they gave these back to their drivers or parents or guardians to take back home after they finished the registration. You don’t want to risk keeping them in your room. If you go to camp in public transport and have no one to take the documents home for you, then keep them well in your waist pouch, never in your suitcase, however securely locked it is.
2 Mufti Clothes and Shoes or Sandals for Sunday
In some camps, you are allowed to wear mufti till 6pm on Sundays. You can bring more clothes if you want to contest in the beauty pageants too.
Proper Padlock for Your Suitcase and a Chain Padlock to Chain it to Your Bunk.
Theft is a reality you have to deal with at the orientation camp. Try to keep your property safe, and don’t keep anything valuable in your suitcase. Put all your money in the waist pouch.
Money
The amount you need depends largely on your lifestyle. Just make sure you go with more than enough, just in case of anything. I would advise a minimum of N25, 000 for the 3weeks. Apart from feeding, you could need money for so many unforeseen circumstances – e.g. to adjust your oversized NYSC khakis or buy new ones at the camp market, and for a host of other things. I always advise men to take extra money as well, you know, you might just want to pay for that fine girl’s lunch at mammy market 😉
While in camp you will be given some money by the government three times. In the first week you are given N1,500 for transport reimbursement. Then in the second week you get another N1,000. In the final week, a day or two before you leave camp, you get your allowee for that month.
6.2 Arrival and Registration
Camp Gate
Make sure you arrive as early as you can on the day you are expected to report to the orientation camp. Registration systems may be slightly different from camp to camp but I will tell you the one I went through. As soon as you get to the camp gate, you do a mini registration – you write your name, number, school attended etc. Then the officials give you a number. Most times, this number is just for preregistration purposes and says who came first – e.g. if you are 021 it means you’re the 21st person to arrive and you are next for registration after they call 020.
Also at the gate you are given accommodation and other camp instructions. Then they check your bag for ‘contraband’ stuff. Basically you are not allowed to bring your entire house, you spoiled brat. Contraband items include sharp objects (knives, blades etc.), iron for ironing, hair straightener, hair blow dryer, alcohol, etc.
Your Room
So, after checking your bag, they seize all ‘seizables’ and when your bag is good to go, you go quickly to the male or female hostel (depending on your gender, obviously) and find a good bed space (an official may be at the room to allocate the rooms and bed spaces, leaving no opportunity for you to choose). This is where you could ask one of the hostel attendants around to help carry your box/suitcase to your room, for a fee. It’s something cheap like N50. Use their service, except you don’t mind trudging along with your lovely suitcase while the rough stones on the ground damage the tyres in 10seconds. Maybe not all camps have hostel attendants, but if your camp is in a rural area and the distance between the camp gate to your hostel is long, then you need help carrying all your things.
After you’ve claimed your bunk space, you would go get yourself a (good) mattress. The mattresses are strictly on a first come, first served basis. If you are fashionably late, you will sleep on a fashionably-torn, lice-infested mattress. You may even just have no mattress at all. You may also have no room at all. It is a reality that most NYSC camps don’t have enough rooms to go round everybody.
Registration
After you’ve sorted out your bunk and mattress, you leave your securely-locked suitcase/box on your bed and you make your way to the registration area. I remember making my way to the registration area by the parade ground when some random soldier stopped me.
Soldier: “Hey! Where you dey go?”
Me: (In my British accent) Sorry?
Soldier: (Screaming) I say where you dey go dey waka like you dey do fashion show?! See as e paint face sef. Come here!
Me: Huh?
Soldier: You no be corper? Oya double up! As long as you’re here you must double up. We no dey walk around here. You go jog. Understood?
Oya jog to where you are going.
Startled, I started jogging nervously, wondering what the heck I had put myself into. Good thing I didn’t argue with them. Popular NYSC wisdom has it that from the first day, you don’t even argue with the soldiers. Just do as they say and all will be well. They also don’t know how to talk at normal volumes. They scream at you for most of the three weeks.
Anyway, next I looked for where to queue for registration. The issue with the registration process is that it’s a laborious process.They tried to make it an organised process but if you are coming from the Western world where you are so used to good planning and organisation, you could get very frustrated. So again, I advise that you go with an open mind and don’t expect everything to be the way they did it at your university. As I mentioned earlier, I can’t say this or that is how registration is done. It differs from state to state. A general tip here is: be sure you are on the right queue. The first issue is knowing where to queue.There would be several queues without intsruction and if you don’t ask questions, you may be standing for hours in the sun on the wrong queue. You queue according to the tally number given to you at the gate. Again the earlier you arrive, the better.
At my camp the first step was to get our call-up letters authenticated. Unfortunately many people fake these letters, so one of the first things you would do is to take your call-up letter for UV / Mercury Light verification. After this you are given something called a ‘Job List’. This is the list of all the processes you must go through to be fully registered. You must make sure that by the end of the registration process, all the stages are signed by an official – he/she will make sure you have done all you need to do. Any omission could cause you big issues in the future, trust me. The Job List does not necessarily follow according to stages on the list. I assume the paper list is supposed to be given at the gate, and maybe this would be the case at your camp; but on my camp it was given after we had done the UV Light Verification.
It usually has the following written on it:
Stage 1- Tally issuance at gate/entrance
Stage 2- Issuance of Counterfoil
Stage 3- UV light verification
Stage 4- Computer verification
Stage 5- Issuance of File with Code number
Stage 6- Verification of Corp Member completed file
Stage 7- Submission of verified files and collection of kits at the store (e.g. your khakis)
Stage 8- Allocation of rooms (they normally do this after stage 1; don’t know why it’s stage 8)
Stage 9- Completion of book of life subsequently on platoon basis
By the way, each stage is done at different locations on camp. So for example after completing stage 2, stage 3 may be at the opposite end of the camp registration area, which may be about five minutes’ walk away. You would be moving up and down, clueless. Even though it would all appear organised, no one directs you to the next area. YOU FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF by asking people. In fact, NYSC officials themselves misdirected me a few times on the day- which shows that some of them didn’t even know what was going on.
Are you tired of registration already from just reading? I wanted to get mad on the day but I couldn’t. The best thing is to relax and have fun with it. Make friends on the queues. Have a bottle of water on you. After all this you should be given your permanent 4-digit code number which will be your number for the year. The last number in the code is your platoon. For example, my code was 2016, so I automatically belonged to the number 6 platoon.
6.3 Getting Your Uniforms
NYSC KIT AND MEAL TICKET COLLECTION
As you could have heard, you are expected to wear white t-shirts and shorts throughout your 3-week stay in camp, except Sundays 6am-6pm. The NYSC kit consists of the following:
– Green Khaki trousers and jacket
– 2 white t-shirts and 2 white shorts
– 1 NYSC crested t-shirt
– 1 pair of jungle boots (those dark-yellowish boots you see in NYSC pictures)
– 2 pairs of NYSC socks and 1 pair of white tennis shoes.
Try your best to come with your own kit, with the exception of the NYSC crested shirt and jungle boots, which are NYSC branded. For the others listed, you need your own fitted wear because the Nigerian government does a one-size-fits-all strategy, I guess to save money. But the shoes come in different sizes. Unfortunately, the NYSC scheme does not yet afford the luxury of knowing your shoe, shorts or t-shirt sizes in advance, so you would have to make do with whatever is handed to you, and then look for someone to exchange with – for example, if your shoes are too big, you might be able to find someone with big feet who was given a smaller size, then swap. If you are lucky (and that’s extremely lucky), you might just find your exact size. In my green khaki I looked like I was thrown into an oversized Dangote rice sac. After one wash my white t-shirts (the ones I got from NYSC) had their mouths (aka necks) open.
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This article was first published on 11th October 2012 and updated on October 24th, 2012 at 11:46 am
Comments (1)
Lol. NYSC wahala my brother told me they don’t serve good food, the food is bad and very very small, let alone the tedious training.