Flashback On NYSC...."Alawee"

“Alawee”
Perhaps the title of this portion is not the total picture but it says a lot about how we were treated in the camp. Apart from the countless number of counsel on the need to be prudent with our families (which are neither solicited and nor paid for), we received all our allowances as at when due. Starting from the bicycle allowance to the transport, there were no hitches in our payments.
In fact, the donation of a bull by the “Obaaro of Kabba”, made our fire night meaty as we truly had for the first time ever a bigger portion of meat on our meal.

Ogori Man-gon-go
The name Ogori-mangogo was an household name on the orientation camp, although it is one of the local government areas in the state, yet its fame was due to its long and funny pronunciation – “Ogo –ri-man-gon- go”. The unappealing rumour we heard while on camp was that it was an area without basic amenities like water, electricity and communication network etc. This caved fear in the heart of many of us and no one wished to be posted to “Ogori-Man-go-go”.

Mammy Market
“Beware of Mammy market” ought to have been pasted in our halls, and enough admonition given, maybe this would have helped us in saving our money and not always rushing to the mammy market in pursuit of a better meal, which at the end siphoned the precious “alawee” of some of my colleagues. By the time they discovered the demon taking their money, it was too late!

Some of them then hated mammy market with a passion. This was especially the case with my roommate who initially refused to eat the NYSC food but later repented and came back to it. She just couldn’t believe that she’d squandered all her money on non-essentials in a matter of few days. Hers was a classical case of cutting one’s cloth according to size.