I recall in 2006 when I received my NYSC call-up letter and discovered I was posted to Kebbi State. I didn’t know exactly what to expect. Having spent most of my time in Kaduna, I assumed it wouldn’t be anything different. Incidentally, I did not have a clue how far Kebbi was from Kaduna.

“NYSC here I come”, I happily murmured. But on a second thought, we were ‘broke’ that period and the excitement vanished instantly. Popsi gave me N2k and said when things get better, he would send more money.

Well, when I was about to leave for the motor park, popsi phoned Alhaji Shehu, his student in Kebbi State, to inform him that I was deployed to Kebbi. I spoke to Alhaji Shehu and he promised to pick me up from the motor park and take me to the orientation camp.

Let me not bore you with the grisly details of what happened on the journey. But let me just give you a synopsis. The journey took about 8.5hrs. I’m sure most of the passengers did not anticipate an unpleasantly long trip. One lady in the taxi was so hungry that she pleaded with me to share my biscuit with her. In fact, the further away we were from Kaduna, the more it appeared as though we were on our way to Sahara Desert. As we passed Gusau heading to Sokoto, two female corps members from the South Eastern region began to cry as we drove past camels in the scorching heat.

Fast forward to orientation camp. I am usually very picky with food. So, for the first week, I was forming ‘big boy’ and eating only at the Mammy Market until my N2k finished, and the ‘big boy’ finished with it. That’s how I began to join the queue to collect camp food.

Unsurprisingly, angels come in different forms. That’s how Ene Nefisat Agbo, called to congratulate me and asked how I was doing. “Eye red oh”, I replied. From that day, Ene started sending me N1500 MTN recharge card regularly, which I was reselling at N1300 to those ‘business center’ guys. Ene may have forgotten all these good deeds but I have not forgotten. Thank you Ene.

Back to Alhaji Shehu (my dad’s student). Prior to the posting within the state, he asked me where I wanted to do my primary assignment and I told him I wanted to lecture at Waziri Umaru Polytechnic (now Waziri Umaru Federal Polytechnic). Thankfully, he assisted and I was posted to the Department of Metallurgical Engineering where I taught Material Science and Iron Making to the National Diploma students.

Also, after our passing out ceremony at the end of the three weeks orientation camp, Alhaji Shehu introduced me to his friend, Kunle. Kunle in turn, introduced me to his brother, Williams. I was extremely fortunate. Williams offered me his one-bedroom apartment FREE OF CHARGE for the duration of my NYSC.

While at William’s apartment, I met Prof Eyene Okpanachi. Prof Okpanachi and I developed strong ties due to our mutual interests and he linked me up with Mr Bala, a lecturer at the polytechnic who was looking for a private tutor for his two kids. Mr Bala employed my services and that’s how I got an additional income.

Service year that I arrived with a meagre N2k, became an interesting sojourn as I began to earn N16.5K per month comprising N5K from private lessons, NYSC allowance of N8.5K (later increased to N9.5K) and my N2k monthly stipend from the polytechnic. This is excluding other financial support from family and friends.

Just like Job in the bible (Job 42:12), our latter days in Kebbi became greater and even more enjoyable than our former days. We became accustomed to the weather and toured the state moving from Birnin Kebbi to Gwandu to Argungu just to visit other corps members.

Let me stop here. If you did not learn any lesson from my story, please remember this: all the contacts and new friends in Kebbi made my stay worthwhile. If not, my experience would have only been better off imagined.

I don’t know what your NYSC experience is / was, but going forward, please build positive relationships. Your network is important! The more influential people you know, the higher your chances of success.