MEMORIES FROM THE NORTH

       It was just like yesterday when we got to Lafia where we were deployed to for our primary assignment. Weighed down by the unknown in a strange land, we looked up to ourselves for reassurance. I tried to be "strong" for my sake, but inside, I had never felt so "alone"; I had never been away from home, save for a few vacations. Nonetheless, my friends and I marched on, armed with nothing but our school certificates and NYSC posting letters. We were certain "this too will pass".

      It did pass.Here I am, looking back at that time and saying to myself "finally, its done". How time flies, you say? Well it did not come without struggles and some pains. We survived, anyway. Do not rebuke me for dwelling on the pains.There were the good times too. NYSC availed me the opportunity of meeting people from different backgrounds and sharing experiences with them. At least I learned that the Yoruba's claim right over the establishment of the ancient Bini Kingdom and my Edo friend argued that the Yoruba's "Oduduwa" came from the Bini land. The experience was educating. I understood my friends from the other tribes more; my omo yoruba. My Bini friend, Friday, did not turn into a strange animal at night.
      
      Yes, it was sweet and sour. At times it got so sour, you could break down and cry. I remember the 2011 April polls in the country, a month after we were discharged from camp. The presidential elections. AH!!!!! Corps members were slain. Brutally murdered; from Kaduna to Borno to different parts of the North, young lives were wasted for a reason that was hardly their fault. I rememeber my father calling me in the middle of the "heat", asking me to move to Abuja for safety. But was Abuja any better? Boko Haram plagued the capital territory too!

       I can still see the news headlines as they roll out inside my head. Parents cried on national television for their children that were slaughtered in their numbers. Yes, at some point it got very sour for all of us. My heart goes out to all the families that lost loved ones.
My friends and I are trully grateful to God for keeping us. Notwithstanding all the times we had to run to Enugu for fear of the "jihad massacres", with very little money in our pockets. You can laugh all you want. All in all, it was inspiring. My name is Maximus and these are my memories from NORTHERN NIGERIA.