18 Days Rainbow Coalition at Issele –Uku

They started trickling in on the eve of the commencement of the orientation course, high in spirit, chatting excitedly about their previous school life as well as the long journey they had to Delta State NYSC permanent orientation camp at Issele-Uku. Like pilgrims to the holy land, they came from all the nooks and crannies of this great nation, from the East, West, North and South; just name the ethnic group, majority or minority, prominent and inconspicuous, the Yoruba, Tiv, Ibos, Berom, Ebira, the Hausa, Ibibio, Ishan, Bini, Efik, Kanuri and even the protesting Ogonis were all represented at the great assembly.

They were in various shapes and sizes; fair and dark complexioned, tall and short, big and small, spinsters and bachelors, married and singles, pregnant women and nursing mothers, the able and the disabled, all were mobilised to serve the fatherland under the sun and in the rain, with dedication and selflessness. What a  great spectacle they made in their various attires, some in jeans and t-shirts, some in Babaringa, some in suits, some in shirts and trousers, some in skirts and blouse and yet some in traditional Iro and Buba as well as Buba and Sokoto. Their various luggages were tell-tale signs, revealing their diverse background. While some of them have their items in Bagco Bags, others were chauffeur-driven to the camp with their possessions neatly packed in multiple suitcases and leather-boxes. Who said we are all equal?

Waiting to receive these “Otondo”, “JJCs”, “freshers”, “sesedes” and newly mobilised First Batch of 1997/98 corps members to camp were the NYSC officials for Delta State as well as other camp officials such as the Army, the Police, the DSS, the Man ‘O’ War, the Red Cross, Senior Corp members, the Mammy Marketers and of course the Paparazzi (the commercial photographers) who came to satisfy the photo-maniac corps members and those who refused to heed the call to bring their passport photographs to camp for registration purposes. This combined team were the ones who ensured that the new “Otondos”, as fresh corps members to Issele-Uku camp are called, had a comfortable stay during their orientation period.

Registration had hardly started on the  February 2,  1998 when letters started flying around. These were letters from the high and mighty, movers and shakers of the society wanting preferential postings for their wards. For instance, it is a commonplace to hear some corps members asking around for many of the senior management  staffers of Delta State NYSC because they want  their postings to Shell, Chevron, Inter Drill, Schlumberger,  Texaco Overseas, NNPC and other choice places of primary assignments guaranteed. While the well connected ones were playing the role of a mail-runner, the Smart Alecs who had no godfathers to give them letters did not fold their arms, rather, they too were busy sniffing like an Alsatian dog on the trail of a criminal probing for a “Messiah” who will deliver them too to enviable and lucrative places of primary assignments. Just like they did during their undergraduate days in school, they continued. As for the ladies, it’s no big deal for them paying in cash and in kind to any instructor be he soldier or civilian who can deliver the golden egg. Sorry for the boys, they have only money to offer their prospective benefactors. Who says there is War Against Indiscipline and Corruption (WAIC) in Nigeria?  

Trust the gentlemen corps members, the aluta blood is still running in their veins, they were quite insatiable , complaining about anything and everything; the Israelites couldn’t outdo them, neither could Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist. Their complaints were legion. Right from the time registration started, the queue was either too long or was not moving, the registration officials kept too long during their break hour; the kits given them were either too long or too short, too big or too small and yet incomplete.

Also forming part of their plethora of complaints was the beddings which they said had incomplete springs or that the mattresses were too lean or too dirty for human use. To them, the water supply was erratic while electricity was epileptic, the camp clinic did not have enough drugs while the food served in the kitchen was better given to dogs or prison inmates. The early morning joggings and the drills, they complained were too strenuous and energy sapping while the mammy marketers too were exploitative. What these gentlemen corps members chose to ignore or rather failed to realise was that they were many, perhaps too many, as there were 1,537 of them.

See the maligners at the camp clinic, one day para-military training had made them incurably sick for the rest of the camping period. There were the sneakers too, always sneaking in and out of the camp to pay visit or make phone calls. Yet, we have the artful dodgers, they neither report at the camp clinic to get exemption letters from doctors, nor did they leave camp premises, rather they were to be seen in relaxation mood at various eateries and beer joint guzzling bottles of larger beer and twisting their waist to joyful noises from mammy marketers many music machines. Of course they are always in mufti so nobody is wiser if they are or are not corps members. To them, it is flenjour to infinity, no drills, no lectures, just straight, undiluted hedonism.

There was nowhere else where love and fraternity were on greater display in the whole of Delta State between February 2 – 16, 1998, than at the Issele- Uku, Delta State NYSC Orientation Camp. The brotherly and sisterly love was clearly on display.  Corps members identified and fraternised with one another as bunk-mates, room-mates, wing-mates, platoon members, church or fellowship members, OBS members, school-mates, joint-mates or purely as professional colleagues in the same field of human endeavour. Apart from all of these, the fact that they were all gentlemen corps members bound them together. Who says there is no ‘espirit de corps’ among youth corps members? If the fraternity had all along been on the aforementioned basis, the singular luck that the lovers’ day for this year (St. Valentine’s Day) i.e. February 14  fell within the orientation period also warranted many a platonic relationships to get deeper and more intimate. Since the NYSC is a human scheme which also believes religiously in inter-ethnic and inter-tribal marriages, February 14, 1998 was made a day to remember by Delta State NYSC. While some lazy corpers would remember the day as their worst in camp due to the blisters and fatigue they suffered from the traditional 32 Km endurance trek which they had earlier in the day; however, their rugged and stronger colleagues who were still able to take in the Valentine/ Gala Nite show which came up later that same day will always relish February 14, 1998 as a red letter day, a day of great challenge, excitement, fun and bliss.

The Valentine Show/ Gala Nite sponsored by Nigerian Bottling Company, makers of Coca-Cola and  Nigerian German Chemical Plc, makers of Parozone and Kate Cosmetics featured Miss Delta State NYSC Beauty Pageant, Mr. Macho competition, Hot Eba contest, dancing and drinking competition, miming acts as well as St. Valentines match-making contest. The fun did not come on Valentine’s Day alone, neither did it end there. Apart from the many fun and relaxation spots at the famous mammy market situated in the camp, the cultural dance and drama organised for the various platoons in camp also added spice to lives of many a bored corps members as those who could not be part of the     limited number of dancers or actors and actresses in their various platoons were dignifying enough to come around every evening to applaud, cheer and watch their colleagues perform.

Altogether 16 platoons participated in the cultural dances and drama competition. Another arena for fun and relaxation were the venues of the NYSC organised inter-platoon volleyball competition for female and football contest for male. Every evening after the afternoon parade, corps members converge on the field to feed their eyes with soccer artistry on display.   At the end of the sporting events, Platoon One came first in the soccer contest while Platoon Two came first in the Volleyball event thereby winning the coveted trophy newly donated to Delta NYSC by the wife of the Military Administrator of Delta State, Mrs. Christy Dungs. Surprisingly, the rigorous morning joggings and drills did not fail to deliver their own packages of fun and excitement as corps members on parade were to learn new songs and slangs such as ‘otondo’ and ‘tua’.  The dining hall also provided its own light entertainment as it is always a spectacle to behold, seeing young and fresh graduates of tertiary institutions jostling and shouting for food. One would never have known, but for the camp experience that many of our egg-heads are actually gourmands and gluttons who like Oliver Twist will always ask for more despite their condemnation of the cuisines.

Another night of flenjour, fun and entertainment was the Camp Fire Night which came up on the eve of the departure from camp on February 17.  The camp fire night featured pepper soup carnival in which all platoons were given meat to prepare the delicacy for the enjoyment of their members. During the night, a bonfire is made on the camp ground and all platoons will now dance around the bonfire one after the other. It is note-worthy that Orientation Broadcasting Studio of Delta NYSC at Issele-Uku did creditably well to add colour and pomp to the camp life by entertaining the camp populace with delightful programmes such as Music Nigeriana, Reggae Jam, Love Links and Whispers. The OBS Crew also educated as well as informed the camp public about happenings within and outside the enclave through their superb news coverage as well as other programmes such as Survival Strategy, Guests on OBS and Announcement service.

On hand to capture many of the aforementioned exciting and fun-filled moments for corps members were the commercial photographers who despite their high numerical strength were still able to make good money out of the photo-crazy corps members. In fact, a gentleman who owns Dama Studio in Asaba even used his initiative to record all the camp activities live with his video camera. He later dubbed the cassettes for interested corps members at a token sum of N300 per copy.  All these fun and entertainment, it should be noted, went parri-passu with rigorous para-military training such as early morning jogging drills and march-past training amongst others.  Also featuring prominently during the 18 days orientation were lectures highlighting the customs and traditions of Deltans. National Directorate of Employment lectures aimed at making ‘youth corpers’ self employed , security lecture  meant to awaken the security consciousness  of corps members as well as language  lectures targeted at teaching the newly mobilised corps members Igbo and Uhrobo languages of Delta people. Apart from arrays of VIPs that graced the opening and closing ceremonies of the camp, there were certain dignitaries who also paid scheduled visits to Delta NYSC camp at Issele-Uku. The first set of august visitors came on February 10, 1998. Leading a two man delegation from  The Gambia was the Director of Public Relations at the National Directorate Headquarters in Abuja, Mr. Gregory Enegwea.

In his entourage was Mr. Sheriff Gomez, Director NYSC in The Gambia. It would be recalled that sometime in 1994, Gambia decided to adopt Nigeria’s NYSC programme for the youth of their country who soon after their secondary education often became idle and redundant. It was for the purpose of setting up the NYSC Scheme in Gambia that Mr. Gregory Enegwea was seconded there from Nigeria.  Speaking during the courtesy visit to the Delta State NYSC camp at Issele-Uku Mr. Gomez commended Nigeria’s NYSC scheme now in its 25^th year while at the same time saying that challenge is what makes life tick and that corps members should rise up to the challenges posed by the scheme.. Mr. Enegwea on his own advised that corps members should be positively engaged during their service year, citing examples to buttress his point.

February 12, 1998 saw the coming to Issele-Uku Camp of another eminent guest in the person of Alhaji Mahmud Bulama who is the head of PRS at the Directorate Headquarters in Abuja. He was around to represent the Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier General Samson Dule. Alhaji Bulama’s visit would go down memory lane in the sense that it was he who confirmed the rife rumour of increase in the allowances of corps members from the initial N1, 167 to N1, 604. He also on behalf of the DG, NYSC donated a life cow used during the camp fire night. Among other things, Alhaji Bulama warned corps members against secret cultism, incessant and frivolous travelling as well as lobbying for preferential postings and redeployment.

Apart from the commendable services rendered by the OBS crew and the photographers during the orientation course for the 1, 573 corps first tier corps members at the Issele-Uku, others whose services are praiseworthy include the indefatigable team of medical doctors, Pharmacists and allied professionals as well as members of the Red Cross Society who manned the camp clinic effectively by ensuring that there was prompt health care delivery to the needy. Their effort is laudable because there was no single death while the orientation lasted. Kudos also need to be given to the Camp Commandant, Captain Agbanusi and his team for ensuring that law and order was maintained during the camping exercise. In the same vein, Mrs. Rita Uzor-Akinlade and her team of able lieutenants also deserve a standing ovation for being alive to their Herculean responsibilities. Also worthy of encomiums are the mammy marketers whose services went a long way in making sure that the Service pilgrims who formed a rainbow coalition in Issele-Uku had a nice and wonderful time. To those whose lobby for choice postings paid off, I say congratulations. To those who were hapless, I say accept my heart-felt sympathy. To the generality of the newly mobilised gentlemen corps members, I say, welcome to another life of disillusionment and reality, life after the 18 days rainbow coalition at Issele-Uku.

This commentary was first published in Sunday Pointer, March 1, 1998