WHAT NEXT?

I must have asked myself this question more than I can remember especially the past few months after passing out (National Youth Service Corps, I mean). Trust me this is not some clueless or some ‘No Future Ambition (NFA)’ typa rant. (‘tis some rant…but not clueless. Lol)

As a Nigerian, the plan has always been there. Go to the university, study something you love, graduate and go for the compulsory one year service to our fatherland, then… then…
Then… words just seem to fail me. A little help with suggestions would do right now. I feel stuck. The only phrase that keeps playing back like a broken record is “what next”.
Here I am, a nocturnal being by default or reset, watching the sun go down and the moon take charge of the night, then observing the breaking of dawn before hitting the sheets… and snooze…

A CALL TO DUTY

Called to serve your motherland, a duty, an obligation, a sanction, a requirement, a prerequisite. What is it to you? We look towards our service year with anticipation or apprehension for various personal reasons, for some it’s a time to get paid, for others it’s a time to meet people and build up networks, for others it is a time to find opportunities in career building, yet for others the reason is simple, it’s a time to leave home and experience freedom from their parents strong hold. Also there are cases of those whose reasons are more noble, to experience other cultures and develop oneself.

(PICTURES) SENSITIZATION FOR SAFE BLOOD DONATION AT EDITORIAL BOARD CDS

(PICTURES) SENSITIZATION FOR SAFE BLOOD DONATION AT ECOVANGUARD CDS

(PICTURES) SENSITIZATION FOR SAFE BLOOD DONATION AT SERVICOM CDS

(PICTURES) EDITORIAL BOARD CDS 2013 BATCH C EXECUTIVES

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SERVICE (CDS): AN ENRICHING EXPERIENCE AND THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY SERVICE YEAR

Since myknowledge of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, I dreaded the day I would be called up to “serve” in ill fitted khaki and hideous jungle boots. Alas, I was “called up” in November 2013.

The first and probably most memorable part of the scheme is the orientation camp and everyone who has recounted their experience to me has either loved it or hated it, no in-betweeners. Those who fall in the former group only come to hold that sentiment in retrospect.They reminisce about the fun activities led by the ‘Man o’war' team, the day they got to show off their traditional outfits and dance, the evening they basked in the exhibition of one another’s talents, and the night they shared humorous stories and food around a bonfire.

MY MUSIC….LIFE TO MY SOUL

Music to me is a collection of Sound waves pleasantly composed to refresh ones soul. It begins as a sensation that flows through your ears to your body and right into your soul. It evokes emotions of various sorts, from joy, to loneliness, to sadness, to excitement, to love. Have you ever wondered why people go crazy in clubs when the music is loud and deafening, it evokes a feeling of reckless abandon in them.

Or have you wondered why people kiss and stare deep into the eyes of their partners in cosy, dimly lit dinner rooms when slow sensational songs are being played, it weaves a tender and loving emotion around them and they lose sight of their surroundings and drink from the soul of the person right before them, it is magical in its own way. What else could we call a thing that does so much to the human mind without even as much as a physical touch?

(PICTURES) CORPS MEMBER BUILDS MEDICAL LABORATORY FACILITY AT THE NYSC ORIENTATION CAMP CLINIC, KUBWA, ABUJA

STREAM THOUGHTS 4 (CORPER WITH A DIFFERENCE)

It is 7 months into my service year and each new day brings me closer to apprehension of what lies ahead, I won’t say its fear but it borders on those lines. The silent messages are beginning to drop, from a wink to a casual promise of job possibilities if only I know how to play. I begin to realise some things I would like to share with you.

The service year is crucially important in the life of a fresh graduate, it has become so since its inception, it has either made or marred in some cases. Our decisions, our life style, and conduct during service have left indelible marks on our immediate future, either for good or bad.

LEADERSHIP VACUUM AS THE GREATEST CHALLENGE OF A 21ST CENTURY NIGERIA

Leadership is the ability to motivate or inspire people to act and initiate resultant change. The greatest global change in this century is nurturing people for courageous and compassionate leadership, finding passionate individuals capable of bringing lasting solution to several challenges facing our planet through authentic, wise, courageous and compassionate leadership.

Today, there is a leadership vacuum or gap in many nations and corporations around the globe and a widespread call for a new kind of leadership is paramount. Leadership scholars urge for the kind of leadership – transformational change leadership which motivates and inspires people to action and change.

CORPS MEMBER SENSITIZES CHUKUKU COMMUNITY ON ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE AND DIARRHOEAL SYMPTOMS

Diarrhoeal being a major public health issue suffered by their children in rural communities, Corps Pharmacist Ugochi Agbara Faith of 2013 Batch C in partnership with an NGO, Credible Health Aid and Human Development Initiative (CHADEL INITIATIVE), in which she is a director, embarked on a project to sensitize and issue probiotics to residents in Chukuku Community, a traditional Gbagyi settlement, located between Gwagwalada and Kiyi villages, with about 220,000 inhabitants (according to 2006 census).

A total of 338 women assembled at the Primary Health Care Centre, Chukuku Community, Kuje Area Council, Abuja. The sensitization started at about 10a.m with a lecture on Environmental Hygiene and Diarrhoeal Symptoms by a guest speaker. There was an interactive session between the women and the speaker to ascertain the level of understanding. The women highlighted some community based problems which included access to portable water.

WAR AGAINST POVERTY CDS GROUP VISITATION TO ORPHANAGE HOME

The members of War Against Poverty (WAP) Community Development Service (CDS) group who often gather at the Zoological Garden, Area 1, paid a charity visit to the New Covenant Orphanage Home, Kuje.

In a chat with one of the group’s executives, we gathered that the funds used by the group were raised in house. Prior to the visit, Pledge cards were given to members of the group to give voluntarily whatever they could spare, while a compulsory sum of N400 was paid by all members to cover the expenses of transportation and logistics.

MERCILESS EBOLA – THE STORY BEHIND THE TALE

I don’t think this is funny at all. But truthfully I had a good laugh about it and thought I should share it. Just maybe it could trigger a smile!!!

A lot of inanimate things are being named after people that have lived their lives well. Most of these people perhaps sacrificed their lives for people and a good number of them are seen as heroes and role models.

Now, let’s assume I am a Congolese and I did a lot of good things to the good people of congo and they decided to name a river after me. My name is Ebola John Thomas. I brought what is regarded as close to civilization to the Congolese people and I was rewarded with a river; one of the longest and swift flowing rivers in Congo.

STORY OF ANTNIA

(real names have been withheld to protect privacy)
Today I had made my rounds, round the market hoping to find a perfect print trouser and after enough ups and down I was done for the day. I was grumpy, it was hot, to top it off the sellers weren't nice either, this was against the backdrop that the government had taken down their shades for a better one which most of them could not afford.

With enough sadness to kick the first day of the week, I was out of the market, when I heard that voice. "If you no dey buy the Ugwu (vegetable), abeg drop am".
Ok let me take you a while back, this was less than a decade, when my body frame made me look like a toddler in high school, it wasn't funny sha.

CORPS MEMBER PROVIDES FREE MEDICAL SERVICE

When Dr Trix-Meti Omonigho, a Batch C corps member, serving in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) swore to serve her nation under the sun or in the rain, she was not joking about it. She took the service seriously. Her main objective was to serve humanity to the best of her ability by touching the lives of the people around her. Omonigho decided not only reach out to people in her host community but extend to other communities in Kwali area council.

After the orientation exercise last year, the young vibrant corps member was posted to General Hospital Kwali as her place of primary assignment.
She vowed that her service will not only end at treating patients in the hospital only, but will extend to people, who are not able to get medical help due to one reason or the other, in the communities.
This corps member’s passion to help people pushed her into organising a free medical outreach for the people of Kwaita, a community in the council, which saw over 200 people benefiting from the exercise.