By Bilyamin Abdulmumin
For my insight about this topic, check the previous article series. The present discussion wishes to share a little bit more of my observation and experience during the service year.
What characterizes many youth corps serving in a new environment is curiosity. One would try to make endless comparisons between the host community and that of one’s familiar background. The result of these explorations could range from little cultural differences to culture shock for the youth corps. My stay at Kaltungo as corper was not a different story.
Some of my memorable observations include: sprawling private schools, lifestyle, snake proliferation, and love outside marriage (culture shock)
One of the first things I came to observe during my stay at Kaltingo town was the number of different private schools spread in every nook and cranny of the town. They seem to take private school as a very profitable business venture, thus, making critics increasingly condemn the attitude. For these critics, it was mere lack of business initiative, or sheer out of profitability that every tom dick and harry when in a position of money never knows what to do with them to just venture into private school business. But, I was rather impressed by the competition. Because I believe in no distance time the benefit of the competition would manifest itself in high literacy in their society. To my argument even if the development is profit-driven, it is a win-win situation. Compared to my community, that competition was non-existent- at the time, until about 5 years later similar welcomed development began sprawling.
After my service, one of the experiences I used to refer to with Kaltungo is their Lifestyle. Unlike my community, people of Kaltungo are more concerned with an inward lifestyle. By merely looking at an average person you can’t tell what he is up to in terms of giving education to his children, footing the health bills, or the level of feeding to himself and his family. An average Kaltungo is not wary about exotic cars, houses, or wearing a gezina caftan unlike in my area where the reverse is the case. I have come to realize that this scenario of fancy for flashy materials at the expense of one’s standard of living is more common among the SOKEZA axis.
Surprisingly, I didn’t see snakes. It was almost national knowledge that the Kaltingo zone is synonymous with snakes. There is even a special hospital for snake biting treatment in the town; It is said to be one of its kind in the country. So, naturally one would expect to come crawling with snakes perhaps even under the beds. There is one news article I read in Daily Trust about the snakes’ coexistence in Kaltungo. According to the news, snakes are part and parcel of the kingdom, so whenever there are gatherings such as that of naming ceremonies, weddings, or any other occasion, these snakes use to send their representatives. Imagine what people read as news about this part of the country. Therefore It is not out of the question, one to imagine endless encounters with snakes. But I didn’t. Bad news, have the habit of making the news out of proportion. For instance, if the news made the rounds in the county about the insurgency and kidnapping happening in Zamfara and Niger, one would think that with passing across these states he would be abducted. But the reality is that these thoughts are highly colored.
Compared to my background, the love affair in this part of the country is not abnormal. But what is abnormal according to my source of information is that only if one impregnates a lover then leaves at large. By tradition, the pregnancy which later leads to the birth outside the marriage, is not something that anyone head could be called upon. The tradition dictates that the male lover should provide a sum of money to the lady’s parents for both the lady and child care. Therefore if there is anything worthy of calling for one’s head it is violating this tradition. There was this colleague in the school I thought, when his lover gave birth, he announced the birth to us and other colleagues in the school. I once heard him discussing the birth with his father where the father has to complete the medical bill. When we visited the hospital his mother and other families were visibly up to the occasion. But the turnout of the things rocks my world because they were not married. Tufiakwa, that is an abomination in my area; it has to be swept under the carpet, let alone giving it a red carpet treatment.
Looking back at the time of our arrival as new Corpers, because of the interesting experiences I gained, it was a complete departure from my thoughts about NYSC posting.
I said it in the previous articles, and will say it again now:
Dear prospective Corps members, desist the idea of seeking relocation or service in absentia for what you come to see on arrival is not the complete picture of the posting. Give enough time for your posting and everything will fall into the right places.
