Forums » Pearl's Cafe
Platoon Two, Ep 8 - Trip to Lagos Camp
-
PLATOON TWO
Last Episode
The road buzzed with traders, buses, conductors calling passengers, hawkers selling their products and people walking to and fro the street.
I looked around happily. This part of the market reminded me of Brukutu in Jos. Brukutu also had a busy market, the noisy chatter, the sales of products and so on and for the first time since I arrived Lagos, I was able to find something similar to Jos.
“You don't let Lagos people know it's your first time, else, they will cheat you. Especially with the way you been looking all over the place since we started this walk.” She said.
“She must be a nice girl. She would probably help my adventure. I think like her already” I thought to myself with a mischievous smile as we kept walking.
For full story of episode 7, please click 'Back to topics' at the top right hand corner of the page. Thank You.
Episode 8
Trip to Lagos Camp
We arrived at the NYSC Camp 2:30 on the dot. I was surprised. I wondered if we walked for an hour from the bus stop to the camp. She must have noticed the surprise look on my face, so she answered my facial question.
“Don't worry, it was a 30minutes walk. Remember we did not leave the garage on time. Collecting your bag, the conductor's description and you also had to wait for me...” She went on and on.
“Oh yes, I remember” I said with a chuckle. “Time flies, today is very fast” I added.
“Derin” Sheila said as she came close to me “This is orientation camp, there is no small girl here, those soldiers are mean, drop all those your ajebota traits, shine your eye, look for right connections. This is Lagos, she who knows her way is the brilliant one, so no slacking babe.”
Sheila dropped her bag in an office. She was quite popular because all the officers hailed her as we entered the office. She told them I was her sister. I kept her bags with hers, then she told me she needed to let me take it up from there that she had to meet some of her friends.
It was a large camp with tall buildings that looked like school hostels. The buildings were painted dark yellow. The buildings were three storey building in groups.
There were many people at the camp. I saw some of the people we came in the same bus together. They had arrived earlier because they must have taken a bike. Everyone headed the same direction to drop their bags and tried to get started for registration.
The uniform men were looked fierce. They were soldiers and they had their whips. Fear ran through my spine when I saw them. I had never lived in a barracks before so I'm not used to seeing fierce looking men. I braced myself to be tough as Sheila's words replayed in my head “This is orientation camp, there is no small girl here, those soldiers are mean, drop all those your ajebota traits, shine your eye, look for right connections. This is Lagos, she who knows her way is the brilliant one.” I repeated those words to myself and acted bold.
It was then I felt nostalgic, I wanted to go back home. I missed Shaye, Annabel and my friends. Irene was to come in the next day. I wished she was there with me. I talked to myself again, I needed to be bold, strong, no “Ajebota” traits. Ajebota is a slang in Yoruba language used for people assumed to be from a wealthy home and are not strong enough for the rough life they have found themselves in. I called Shaye but his line was not going through, Irene's line was switched off, my mum's line was busy but my father's line rang.
... to be continued
Copyright © 2015 [Adebola A. Ayoade]. All Rights Reserved.
Kindly like us on facebook - https://www.facebook.com/debypearl?ref=hl
And follow us on twitter - @PearlsCafe1
Thank you!