See What We Did that Gave us Commendation rather than Expulsion from Nysc Camp

Sometimes, it can be very funny to know, that no one is above being fooled;  even the almighty Nysc camp officials. One just needs to know the “right key” for the “right door”… Lol.

It’s being a long time we have been sitting behind Tv to watch different movies from Nollywood, Bollywood and Holywood, it finally came to our turn to do some acting too. And guess what, we did the acting well on Nysc camp and got paid for it by the officials.

This is what happened.
 At around the second week on Abia state camp at Umuna Bendel Local Govt, many of the prospective corp members were already getting different Commendations for doing one good deed or the other; some got commended for being an active member of the OBS; some for doing good job at the kitchen; some for a job well done in cleaning the environment; and some for finding and returning costly “lost-but-found” items.

So i and Kunle reasoned among ourselves and made a decision not to be left out of all the goodies going around to our fellow corpers.

Kunle was my intimate friend on camp. I met this guy some days after we resumed camp. Not only are we together in the same hostel, we also found ourselves in the same platoon.  Just like myself, Kunle is such a funny jerk too. That made us have more than a couple of things in common while on camp.

One afternoon, after the long lecture at the central hall on camp Abia, the camp commander came up to announce some names to us while she also recite the good works the corpers had done.
She said it’s note-worthy and they will surely be commended for their sacrificial services and good deeds.

After the boring lecture for that day. On the way to our hostels to take our usual afternoon rest, i beckoned on Kunle and told him about my desire that we also get that Commendation for ourself at the end of the camping. He agreed with me; so we came up with a “James bond” plan.

We planned to visit the camp commander and informed her that one of us had found a missing sum of money and we want to return it untouched. Because we know a good prize awaits such act.

So we both put our money together in one wallet; that was my own wallet. And the total sum inside there was thirty thousand naira (#30,000) with my id cards and passport photograph.
The plan is that Kunle will take the wallet to the officials and pretend to have found it on the ground and wants to return it.
Though it won’t be an easy thing to do anyway. Because if we get caught, that will be bye-bye to Nysc. And if fate smiled on us, and we succeed, it will translate to good fortune for us (at least on camp).
 So we decided to take the risk.

Kunle was able to do his own part of the plan by giving the wallet to the officials as ‘lost-but-found’ item. it’s now left to me to do my own part. That was when I know it’s more easier to conceal a plan than it is to execute it.

On the parade ground the following morning, the camp commander took the microphone in that cold and windy morning to address the corpers who by that time, were already getting cold to their teeth. She began her admonition with praises raining on a good and well cultured corper who found a wallet containing huge amount of money on the floor, and gave it back as lost-but-found.
She advised everyone of us to inculcate such habit in order to be good leaders of tomorow as we were meant to be.

I looked into the eyes of kunle; who was standing right beside me on the parade ground and we both went into deep smiles. But we quickly controlled ourselves not to let the cat out of the bag; or else, we are both going to be packing our loads to leave camp before the second day. That’s so much a risk to take; so we coupled ourselves.

Finally, the woman said; “if you know you had lost your wallet, step forward now and have it!”.

Where i was standing, I was already shivering from fear. It’s as if heaven is falling down upon me. My ears began to hear strange sound deep inside of it and i suddenly felt like not going out to claim the wallet. But if i don’t, that will be a serious wahala between me and Kunle. It’s not only going to be that we will never see our money again, he may not also stand the chance of winning the recommendation afterall. Obviously, that will be a situation of  “all effort wasted”.

So i summoned some courage and stepped forward. Walking towards the camp commander who was standing some distance away from me was like walking to the dungeon of lions. I felt like the whole of  the zombies i ever watched in movies were taking a walk with me. It’s really not easy my friend.

I got to her, and the first thing she asked was;

 “are you the owner of the wallet?”

My tongue suddenly became glued to the roof of my mouth as if i have never spoken from birth. And my eyes begin to go dim as my legs clasp against themselves as if they no longer have the strenght to carry weight. I just stood there dumb founded.

She asked me again the second time after getting no response for first.
So i struggled to answer “Yes”.

The details inside the wallet was checked to confirm the wallet belongs to me before it was finally handed to me. Trust me, it was as if i just won the presidential sit of United States as i walked back to my position on the platoon. Lolzzzz.

At the end, after some days on camp, Kunle’s name was mentioned and given commendation gift of #10,000 as a reward for a job well done.
 That may sound as though it’s a small money, but i should also remind you that, that amount is enough to rock mammy market for a night.

And that’s exactly what we did. We forsake the kitchen food and switched to mammy mode for the day.

“But please don’t try this at home and don’t ever think of doing it on your camp; you may not be as lucky as we were. You may not be able to get away with it like we did”.
The consequence, of course, may be too severe for you to bear.

Just read and let go.
Happy camping!