I served my country

So after graduation, I served my country Nigeria via the NYSC program
National youth service corps(NYSC) is a program that was set up by the government for Nigerian graduates to get them involved in the building and development of the nation...it is almost compulsory to partake in this program after school to aid with a job application in my country because without your NYSC certificate from the government you are almost not qualified for a white-collar job almost other things.

I graduated in August 2018 and because I graduated from a private university that prides itself in ensuring its students are called to serve almost immediately, by October I received my call-up letter which was fast for me and I loved it. I didn't have to stay home and wait for ages for my turn.it was perfect

I waited for my call-up letter with my heart in my mouth because the government gets to decide where you are posted to and you could be posted to any state in the country. We have 36 states in Nigeria, imagine going to serve your county in a state you have no idea what to expect😑

But that was not my case I was posted to Lagos state Nigeria, everybody's dream state to serve at the time because of its diversity but it wasn't easy getting Lagos as my allocated state, I was tired of waiting and hoping for the best so I took matters into my own hands and I got Lagos... I may have regretted my decision a bit but a story for another day.

So as a requirement for NYSC, you have to attend the orientation camp for 3 weeks. I was not so thrilled about the whole idea but I have heard stories and they were not fun ones but I had to oblige, I arrived in Lagos for my camping, thankfully registration was smooth and luckily I found my friend who we worked together during my internship... She must have been Godsent because I was already feeling too lonely amid over 3000 people.

yes, a lot of students graduates every year and that's not even all, we go in batches, A B and C...so you can imagine the number of graduates every year.

We were given rooms, luckily I got the same room with my friend, though we had to share the room with 28 others, it was fun, I had nice roommates, we won the cleanest room at the end of the camp.

We were also given different platoons; a platoon is like a group created so individuals can work together towards a goal like winning competitions. I was in platoon 5, it was all fun from the matching to the parade, to the lectures, to the food at mammy market, to the night shows with celebrities. Nysc orientation camp in Lagos was blissful, not like other stories I have read.

Finally, my 3 weeks came to an end and I was given my PPA letter( place of primary assignment) where I am supposed to work for one year to gain experience while serving my country. I was sent to a government establishment at first it was exciting but when I got there I realized there were so many of us and no space to accommodate us all but we had to stay. It was a terrible experience I went to work and sat at the car park all day because there was no space to Accommodate us all... For one year it continued that way and I gained no experience neither did I get a good job afterward.

My best part about the whole experience was the payment we call it allowee, three years ago I collected 19800naira/$35 monthly but now it is 33,000 naira/$58 that was a big improvement in my government's path even though I wish they had made the change sooner but it went a long way for a young graduate, people argue that the Nigerian government could do more but I was just glad I even got something from the government and I quietly enjoyed it while it lasted.

In all my one year Nysc was not what I expected, I had too many expectations and didn't get half of what I expected from the Almighty Lagos, but it was a good experience.

Looking back maybe, just maybe If left my chance to fate, I am sure it would have been a better year in whatever establishment I would be at in whatever state that would have been, oh well we would never known beside I am sure I won't have met hive platform anyways☺️

Thanks for reading guys