MY CAMP SERIES EPISODE 5

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.

- Thomas A. Edison

“We're full, you can't join”

I entered camp with so much zeal and my blood pumping to do all that was required and at the same time have fun just like everyone advised. In the first 4 days of the first week, I joined my platoon in all her parade preparations.

I've always loved parades because of the sounds of the band and all the blood pumping activities that follows. I literally have chills when the drums begin and the parade commander marches forward to get permission from whomever, for the parade to continue. Everything just goes in perfect rhythm; legs, hands, e.t.c,.

I think I fell partially in love with the parade band leader and the parade commander. Follow @sewuese_writes on IG to see videos of the band boy in action so you'll judge if my heart was right or not.

Things were going smoothly, in fact I was marching with so much zeal, trying to march my platoon to first place, independently if possible, but just like that, like bitter chocolate, things changed taste. How'd our very casual parade practice turn into something for regular punishments?

On this fateful day after meditation, we all moved to the parade ground and arranged ourselves according to our platoons for morning exercise and parade practice. It was like any other day, we had people still going for registration and newcomers moving to the hostels carrying their belongings. Soldiers started the practice as per usual and took turns teaching us how to obey different commands, swing our hands and maintain uniformity. We weren't serious, some people were laughing at others and I must agree that the whole place was actually getting unserious and disorganised. Before anybody knew what was happening, a soldier who wasn't there previously, arrived and thundered “corpers”. Everybody turned to look and then the place was filled with murmuring as we were all trying to figure out who this beautiful face belonged to. The aura of this man, God! From his entire disposition, we all knew he was ranked higher than the other soldiers.

“Platoons 9 and 10, you people are the problem of this camp, ALL OF YOU GO DOWN!!!”.

Beautiful faces can be deceiving pleaseee. This was the second time our beautiful camp commander was asking us to go down because of noisemaking and the conclusion that we were the worst on camp. The other time we went down, he warned us. The punishments were only getting worse then I remembered that I'd been advised to join the OBS. Passion abandoned, I found my way to the OBS tent after parade practice that morning. I saw my people there and tried to find out about registration and all, then I got directed to the staff in charge but he asked me to come back later. Later took about two days, I don't why I was hesitant, maybe because the faces I was seeing weren't friendly enough or I was still hoping to be part of the parade and somehow not serve punishments. After parade practice that evening, I went to the OBS office and again, I saw my people and the other not so friendly faces of the already existing members. I told myself I was there for a reason and I wasn't going to go back unregistered. This man didn't remember me, but that was okay but when he said, “we're full, you can't join”, I began to employ all my cajoling skills, I didn't want to beg even though I was desperate so I just told him all my qualifications. I explained how I studied mass communication and have a passion for writing, I was looking to the guys from my school for support but I saw the evidence of “all man for himself”. (Later I'll tell you how more than seven of us from the same class were posted to the same camp). They were about to have a meeting and I joined them, I kept chirping in that I could write well and this and that. I can't explain how desperate I already was. This man went on and on about how people were bringing their friends to join the OBS because he found out that three members were people from my school and my department.

Guys! I won somehow. I think I missed the part where he asked me to write news and how the girls who'd been writing were impressed and wanted to push the subsequent writing tasks to me, it's been a while and I can't remember clearly and as a professional journalist I was taught that, “when in doubt, leave out”.