Letters from Yola II
Could've Been Letters from Ibadan
Dear Fellow,
An assumption: most people enrolled for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)—called corps member(s), henceforth—will prefer if asked to choose a state to serve the one-year national service. As it is, prospective corps members (PCM)1 do not have the privilege to choose where they want to be posted. Neither had I that privilege.
While waiting for my Call-up Letter (the document that NYSC summons you with), people still asked where I'd prefer to serve my NYSC year. I made sure to remind them that there is no such provision. Some of these questioners will then reword the question: “Say you were asked to choose a state where you'd like to serve, which will you pick?”
My answer was one: Oyo State, my major attraction being the University of Ibadan (UI) and the publishing industry in that city. Beyond being a response to the persistent questioners, Oyo State was a prayer point. While praying and waiting for my letter from NYSC, I prepared myself to accept whatever the outcome would be.
Meanwhile, I was already done with the university requirements for my bachelor's degree in November 2023. Expectedly, I should have been mobilised for service in December that year. If I had been reasonably delayed, January 2024 would have been the date for me to report to camp. But my situation turned out to be different.
NYSC mobilises three batches of PCMs annually: Batch A, Batch B, and Batch C. Each batch is further divided into two streams, thus: Batch A, Streams I & II; Batch B, Streams I & II; Batch C, Streams I & II. This division is based on the capacity NYSC can cater to per time.
The 2024 Batch A, Stream I enrolment passed me by. Likewise, Batch A Stream II of the same year. The reason? My name had not appeared on the university’s Senate List at the time.
Before you are registered for NYSC, your name must be on these four lists: (1) Graduation List (2) University Senate List (3) JAMB Matriculation List (4) NYSC Senate List. I had to wait for a while longer and checked in school several times until I spotted my name on the university's Senate List on Thursday, 6th June 2024. The portal for 2024 Batch B, Stream I, opened two days later.
The network failed me. Or was it the database on NYSC’s website that failed? I just know that I didn't complete my registration that Saturday. The next stream came and passed the same. It was an even longer wait until I successfully registered for NYSC on Tuesday, 14th November 2024—Batch C, Stream I. The wait was now about where I would be posted to serve my NYSC year. Some of my family members were so full of faith and expectation that they imagined what life in Ibadan for a year would be like for me.
Eleven days later, my Call-up Letter was out. And the breaking news? The NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp of Adamawa State, Damare Camp in Girei LGA, was the location to answer my summons for the one-year national service. I was in that camp for twenty-one days (three weeks)—a regimented area, manned by military and para-military personnel the whole time. I will save the orientation camp stories for the subsequent letter in this series.
I have no regrets about being in Yola at the moment. I only wonder which sounds better to the ear between A and B: (A) Letters from Ibadan, and (B) Letters from Yola.
I have no regrets about being in Yola at the moment. I only wonder which sounds better to the ear between A and B: (A) Letters from Ibadan, and (B) Letters from Yola. Which sounds better in your ear? Let me know in the comments section.
Your LetterMan,
Tongjal, W. N.
Prospective Corps Member (PCM) refers to any youth mobilised for NYSC and is yet to swear to the oath of national service.
Letters from Yola II, Yola is really a beautiful place, I was there for a few days in 2023 but my only issue is the heat. God's plans are always the best but that doesn't mean we can't have plans. I loved how you submitted to his will.
I love that you are seeing the beauty in where God had placed you and in what He's doing with you. Be present where He wants you to be. There can never be a room for regret if We are in God's plan for our lives. Thrive, good friend, me sef want make you win!
PS: I hope you still remember that we shared the same passion about going to Ibadan. I now consider it funny, whenever I think of how I ended up in Akwa-Ibom. God knows what's best for us. And who knows He may still take us to Ibadan in His Time. But for now, there's a lesson for me in Akwa-Ibom as there's a lesson for you in Yola.