'Orientation' Camp Resumes #MyCorperDiary #DayTwo

II heaved a sigh of relief as we walked into the gate. Finally our 24 hour country wide tour had come to an end. I was impressed with the check in speed and got an hostel in less than 20 minutes.

After settling we were instructed to go the the hall then get our kits. I was glad at the rate with which we made progress. On entering into the hall, it was totally full! For a moment I thought people were just taking shade because of the scorching sun. I soon find out that they were all people who are at various stages of the registration exercise.

After paying 4000 Naira and supplying so much details online, I expected that registration will be with the speed of light. But alas, that saved us only a about 10-20 minutes afterwhich everyone became equal.

Imagine a queue that you leave to go and have some snacks and come back to find it 'intact.' That's exactly how it was. To complicate maters, soldiers restructured the queue several times, each one leaving us father from the front.

Soon enough, threats from the soldiers didn't even make anyone shiver again. People were already frustrated and had become desperate. They moved only when they were pushed. The struggle separated strong from weak; smart from regular; friends and foe.

Its unfortunate how people loose patience so easily. Several people, react out of frustration. This is absolutely unnecessary, considering it is the new normal for a time like that. Moreover you need a push to move ahead

Nursing mothers and pregnant women were getting preferential treatment. I totally understand, I was just worried about the frequency. It made me doubt data for maternity rate. And since the children looked alike, I have reasons to assume people borrowed children to speed up registration (don't quote me Ooo). And some pregnancies I saw were just flatulent tummies (lol).

Something else needs to be mentioned-fainting phenomenon. You are not even sure what to take serious and what to ignore. In the course of my 4 hours on the queue, one person fainted. Another person screamed. Honestly, I felt dizzy and feverish in the midst of the intense heat from hundred of people. You can only hope that there are no casualties, but honestly you might be forced to ignore some 'acts.' Interestingly, someone in our bus joked about fainting as one strategy for preference. My candid advice, don't front with serious issues. How will you feel if people took you lightly when you were most serious?

As I moved ahead the queue cunningly, I left people I was chatting with behind. I felt guilty like I abandoned them at such a serious time. Eventually, I reached the front, did my verification and realised that there were 4 Computer systems attending to about 4 thousand people. Could this be inadequate funds from the government? Or mismanagement of funds? Or simply part of the endurance training? I sincerely hope it is the third.

Finally, I got my state code, kits and meal ticket. I had looked forward to my first meal in camp. Up until the time I am writing this, I am still looking forward to it. The food finished barely half way into serving the corp members. They had to start cooking another round. A little less than an hour after the food was exhausted, the second round was ready. At that time I had sorted out myself at the Maami Market. Could they have miscalculated? Did they assume many will not be interested in the meal? Is the poor quality intentional? Do the cooks have joints/cuts in the legendary Maami Market? Or is this also part of the training to cope with hunger?

Tomorrow, I continue my registration process. Next, I am to queue along with over a thousand people to get our identity cards where there are only 4 people. The good thing is that one gets to sit in the hall, safe from the scary sun while you wait for your number to be called. Also I should open my alawee account tomorrow, that's encouraging.

Here is another candid advice: please report to camp early the first day so that you scale through the registration rigors before you have to struggle with 3000 people.

The length of the queues, anticipated drills and 'wonderful' meals make orientation sounds like concentration...

- Reporting from Nigeria's finest Orientation Camp, Mangu, Plateau