Now Your Struggle Continues

Last Friday, one of the guys in the office I work asked about my preparations for NYSC. I kidded with him about wanting to give me something (money) to enjoy my adventure with. He looked puzzle and said “don’t you know that now your struggle continues.” It didn’t take long to figure out he twisted the meaning of NYSC, and perhaps may be I had heard it somewhere sometime. He, in any case, didn’t want to defeat that purpose of continuing my struggle. How nice of him.

Well, struggle or no struggle, I am here wondering how all those going to Camp, NYSC orientation period of 3 weeks, are preparing. I wonder if they are looking to the fun times they will have, the new friends they will make, or how quickly they want to get it over with. The smart ones are wondering why I am not. It is okay if you did not wonder, you are bright but other things are on your mind.

Well, I am being visited by sins of the past. Something about credentials and such. To think I once had a chance to sort it all out but felt it shall pass away. Alas, this is not passing away and I can only wonder what would have been. Imagine all the people I have told I will be going off to camp and hoping it would be in Lagos, and now having to tell them, “err, no I ain’t going no more.” It is not so bad, but I am already tired of explaining and the pity look. And I was so looking forward to going to camp. Not with all the stories I heard, and the previous comments I got on my previous posts. You all whet my appetite. I was looking to take it by storm and move on to the future promised all the returnees as we are called. Never mind, I already figured out it was fairy tales in some cases.

While currently appealing, who am I kidding, the cabbie who dropped me off at the airport read my demeanor and he said, “Oga, don’t worry everything happens for good.” Wow, some people are just immensely wonderful. That straightened me out and I looked forward to what I can do to pass away effectively the next year, because if I don’t make the February batch it is a long road ahead. He did tell me his story though. He got into an accident and his cab was totaled, then the at fault driver refused to pay and the police were not helping much. It became a court case.

Somewhere along the line, he got a loan from the bank and couldn’t pay back and they haunted him back and forth for theirs. A friend who had been telling him come tomorrow, and tomorrow he says come tomorrow, finally gave him a time to come. In the meantime, his fiancé whom he was set to marry in December, bailed on him. How is that for stepping on a man when he is down?

Well, he went to his friend who gave him the key to the cab he drove me in; it was not his to keep. What he didn’t realize in all his troubles was that the day he got his car, was also his birthday. A text from a friend alerted him to the latter. Then the court case was cleared and he was compensated, and a project he was not paid for was suddenly paid and he paid back the back which actually gave him some peace previously when they saw he really couldn’t pay. Everything he said was back to normal, just the way it was before the accident occurred. Everything except now, he is without a fiancé which he said was the greatest part of the story. In his down time he had a chance to think and learn from his predicament. He saw things that pointed to him going in the wrong direction especially with the lady. I can tell you he was relieved.

So I heard that story and I smiled to myself. What is one year? I can weather it. Though I still wonder what the feeling is if I were getting ready for camp tomorrow. Think about it though, I don’t get to clear the nonsense I am in by February, I have to wait till next August, and then another year in the Corp, and two years is gone. That was my threshold to see how far I would have gone in Nigeria. That was when I should be taking stock, reviewing/assessing my time in Nigeria. More so, I was thinking the camp will revitalize my social life. I have no clue what is going on in Lagos. Thank God for Theater@Terra though there is no bar and everyone leaves immediately.

So my struggle continues. I read a book once; A Setback is a Setup for a Comeback. I suppose I can practice what I read in it. I am the comeback kid. Does anyone know what it feels like the night before camp? I think most people are worried about getting to camp early so they can be registered and get their uniforms in the right sizes. A friend said they gave some girls guy clothes because they ran out, and some people wore sizes that were either over or under theirs. Who wouldn’t want drama like this? Nigeria we hail thee.