Saturday, June 27, 2015

Preview: Twenty-One Days Post #9

CHAPTER EIGHT: Day four

Friday, 8th August 2014

The day after the Swearing-in Ceremony wasn’t like the other days. The youths in the camp had passed from prospective Corps members to full Corps members. The Camp Director preferred the appropriate term, which was ‘Corps member,’ and not ‘corper.’ But it seemed like she was the only one in the whole of Nigeria who used the former. Corps members had sworn the Oath of Allegiance and vowed to abide by all NYSC rules, which included discipline at the highest level. Any form of insubordination or disobedience was punishable by being decamped and probably missing out on the whole NYSC programme and returning a year later if allowed.

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Preview: Twenty-One Days Post #8

CHAPTER SEVEN: Day three

Thursday, 7th August 2014

Oluomachukwu woke up before the Wake-Up call as her alarm sounded in her ear. She turned it off immediately and headed straight for the bathroom. There was a mirror along the corridor that led to the baths, and she stopped to look at herself. She was looking different. Camp activities from the past two days had been overly tedious and so time consuming that she didn’t have the time to look presentable, to relax and to have a few drinks. Not that she was an excessive drinker, but once in a while she liked to sit back and have a few glasses of wine or anything that had alcohol in it. When the whole stress was over and she was finally settled in, she was going to get into the fun of the camp and enjoy her stay.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Preview: Twenty-One Day Post #7

CHAPTER SIX: Day two

Wednesday, 6th August 2014

Oluomachukwu had hardly even slept when her alarm went off. She had set it for 3:30am instead of 4:30am, as she wanted to have an early bath, then lay on her bed until 4:30am when it would be time for the Wake-Up call and Corps members would be expected to report to the parade ground for their morning exercise and drills.

Events from the night before were still blurry, as she had been drained from all the hassle. She remembered hearing some of her roommates talk about their eventful day — some had not yet completed their registration, like Oluomachukwu, and some had also complained about not eating anything the whole day. Oluomachukwu related to that, because after her stop at a restaurant the morning before, she hadn’t tasted anything all through the day and she didn’t know how she managed, given that she loved to eat a lot — an almost self-acclaimed foodie.

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Preview: Twenty-One Days Post #6

CHAPTER FIVE: The rush

Registration was a total disaster, so poorly organised that Oluomachukwu wondered why it wasn’t done online and why she had even bothered going all the way to Abuja for verification of documents. It looked as if she was going to redo the whole verification of documents there as well, because everyone came with folders packed with documents. Some even had pencil cases, staplers and every other thing a recent graduate would have.