MY NYSC CAMP EXPERIENCE EPISODE 2: THE JOURNEY TO KWARA STATE When I finished university, my family wanted me to go for NYSC immediately. But honestly, NYSC was the last thing I wanted to do. Still, I had to prepare for Batch A Stream 1 in February 2024. My family wanted me to serve in Abuja because they believed there were more opportunities there. Me? Abuja was the LAST place on my mind. I wanted somewhere like Lagos, Ibadan or Uyo. They paid for direct posting in Abuja, but that didn’t work. When my call-up letter finally came out, I checked it and saw KWARA STATE. 😭 My family suggested I try to redeploy at camp, but I wasn’t ready for that stress. I decided to go and serve in Kwara. Now, let me tell you how my journey started. The day before travelling, I went to Holy Ghost Park in Enugu to find a transport company going directly to Ilorin. I eventually found one. They charged me ₦30,000, and I booked my trip. The next morning, my mum dropped me off at the park around 6 a.m. When I got there, only two passengers were around, but the manager assured me that more people were coming. As they started filling out the manifest, I noticed that most of the passengers were going to Lagos. I asked the people in charge, “Hope you people know I’m going to Ilorin?” They said yes. My people, I entered that vehicle with my two eyes open. Only for these people to drop me at Ore! The passengers going to Lagos had paid ₦20,000, while I had paid ₦30,000 to Ilorin. They gave me just ₦6,000 as a refund. I WAS FURIOUS. I called the manager and told him exactly what I thought about the way they had handled the trip. After some back and forth, he refunded me another ₦3,000. Imagine the stress I was going through before even getting to NYSC camp. 😭 They took me to another park in Ore where I could get a vehicle to Ilorin. I was still sitting there, angry and minding my business, when a woman selling chin-chin approached me. I told her I wasn’t interested. Then I heard a guy ask, “Are you calm now?” I turned around. OMO! 😭😂 This very cute guy was sitting there! When it was time to enter the vehicle, he asked me to sit in the front seat with him. We left Ore around 2 p.m., and the journey was LONG. These people kept stopping to pick up and drop off passengers. At different stops, whenever people were selling snacks, this guy would offer to buy me something. I kept declining. When we got to Akure in Ondo State, they were selling hot akara and bread. He offered to buy some for me, but I said no. And mind you, because of all the anger and frustration from what had happened earlier, I had completely forgotten the 1k wànù údárà I bought in Enugu in the sienna and the quantity was plenty! 😭😂 I left the whole thing behind. When we stopped at another place in Ondo State, he offered to buy me the udara/agbalumo. This time, he bought quite a lot, and we ate it together as the journey continued. When we were about to move again, I bought two bottles of water and gave him one. Eventually, we got to Osogbo in Osun State. That was where this guy got off because he lives in Osogbo! We exchanged numbers. But my journey wasn’t over yet. We were transferred to another vehicle, which was going to Kwara State. So, we said our goodbyes, and I continued my journey. After all the stress, I finally arrived at Offa around 9 p.m. My childhood friend, who was schooling in Offa,came to CAPTAIN COOK to pick me. She made spaghetti and stew for me that night. The next morning, she took me to the park where i boarded ilorin vehicle. She bought me lots of junks and a bucket. Finally, I was on my way to NYSC camp at Yipata! But before you ask, the cute guy I met on my way to Kwara and I actually kept in touch, even while I was in camp. We were still talking after camp, too. Unfortunately, about a week after I left camp, I travelled to Benin to visit my sister, and I LOST MY PHONE. 😭 Just like that, we lost contact.