The National Youth Service Corps, one year program that brings young Nigerian graduates to serve their fatherland, has been constantly running since 1973. With time, it became divided into streams and batches for easier implementation and supervision. Anyone that has gone through this one-year mandatory service will agree that it is very educative as you get to meet people from different Nigerian cultures, thereby broadening one’s perspective of the country. Here are five things to keep in mind if you have not served yet.
1. Put aside enough cash. This goes without saying, but just in case you did not know, you should have more than enough money when embarking on any journey. Trust me, the last thing you need is being stranded with no money in a strange land (even though it is still Nigeria). Before leaving home, make sure you have enough cash on hand and in the bank because you may be posted to an expensive city where you will have to buy everything including water.
2. Prepare to meet a lot of people. Once you have it at the back of your mind that you are going on a sort of adventure that involves seeing and interacting with a whole lot of people, then you will become less judgmental of strangers. National service involves bringing different people together to live in the same place for specific periods of time. During this period, you should be less critical of people you just met and endeavor to meet and make as many friends as possible, not enemies.
3. Be healthy. If you are not healthy enough, you can postpone service until you are fine. It is not a good idea to leave your home and go into a strange place when you are sick. Although you might bank on getting health care when you get there, it is only reasonable not to go serve with serious health conditions.
4. Have different sim cards, and a phone power bank. This means you should get your phone ready, not having any reason to be out of reach. At all times, ensure that your phone is standby and ready to be used in case of any emergency, knowing when to change sim cards to combat poor network and power your phone when you are not within reach of electricity.
5. Pack smart: For the first three weeks of orientation, you do not need to bring heavy load or expensive gadgets. This is when you pack light and smart so that you only take those things you absolutely need. Pairs of white shorts and tops, toiletries, personal belongings and a few other things will suffice. In addition, there’s a mammy market at the camp which will have everything you would need for the orientation. However, after orientation, you should figure out how to settle down and pack the rest of your stuff you’ll need for the year.
Good luck.
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