Welcome to Corpers Diary

  In 2017, I was posted to Karu, Nasarawa, for my NYSC & like every corps member, I was actively involved in the Community Development Service (CDS). I joined the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) group, where I met Gabriel - my future husband. He was always there, sitting beside me at every meeting, yet barely speaking. The only interaction we had was when he borrowed my pen to sign the attendance sheet. I noticed his reserved nature but never thought much of it. It was clear he wanted to say something, but shyness always held him back. The long-awaited moment came in January 2018. After our CDS meeting, we took a subgroup photograph and that was the moment he finally mustered the courage to talk to me beyond just borrowing a pen. He shyly asked if we could be friends and that simple request was the beginning of something special. We started texting, gradually getting to know each other. What struck me the most was his kindness, humor & the way he genuinely made me happ...

I met my husband-to-be at Asaya Camp, Kogi State, during the 2023 Batch A Stream 1 NYSC. We were both in the camp band, where he was one of the leaders. At the time, I was in a serious relationship and it was my ex-boyfriend who encouraged me to join the band to avoid parade stress.  From the moment we met, my fiancé—then a stranger—would jokingly call me his wife, which irritated me because I was deeply in love with my boyfriend. He would even ask for my parents' number, that he would be the one to marry me. This continued throughout the 21-day camp, but I dismissed him.  After camp, I returned to my state and my relationship ended mysteriously. Days after the breakup, I found myself wanting to talk to someone and his name came to mind. I called him & we had a long conversation. He had redeployed and after that call, I forgot about him. I later returned to Kogi State after my failed redeployment.  Months passed, and he resumed calling me daily, checking in and offeri...

  My husband and I met in 2021 at the NYSC Orientation Camp in Wailo, Bauchi State. According to him, it was love at first sight. He arrived at camp before me, and on the day I got there, during registration and kit collection, I noticed a young man staring at me. It felt odd, but I brushed it off.   Later, during the parade ground assembly, I ran into him again with some of his new friends. To my surprise, he approached me and asked to take my picture. Amused, I agreed, and we got talking. That’s when I realized we were in the same platoon.  The first week, I wasn’t giving him much attention despite his persistence. He invited me to Mami Market and tried chatting with me before lights out. However, I remained skeptical, cautious of camp stories about guys chasing girls for fun (cruise).  At one point, one of his friends, who had also grown close to me, tried speaking on his behalf since I wasn’t entertaining him anymore. To get some peace, I said I’d think about it....

Some stories are written by fate, others by choice. Ours? A mix of both, with humor and divine intervention. It all began during NYSC Batch A, 2015 in Dutse, Jigawa. We first met during a famously long NYSC clearance. While registering for U-report (24453), I needed 2 more numbers to complete my list. Everyone else hoarded theirs, but she showed up out of nowhere and gave me hers. That small act of kindness stuck with me. Coincidentally, we lived in the same area. Naturally, we started seeing more of each other—walking home after clearances and engagements. She was fun to talk to, but I was engaged, so our bond was strictly platonic. We became prayer partners. She often joked her top prayer requests were for a good husband and her fashion business to thrive. As a good friend, I prayed along. She also suggested I learn sewing—“You never know when it might help,” she said. I laughed but gave it a shot. Learning to sew was tougher than any NYSC CDS, but she was patient. Little did I know ...

  In November 2022, I was shortlisted for NYSC and I was posted to Keffi camp, Nasarawa State. I had lived and studied in the East, University Of Nigeria, Nsukka precisely. So obeyed the clarion call and reported to Nasarawa for NYSC.  I got to the camp and finished my registration and was posted to Platoon 6. After some days of been in the camp I started making friends and mingling with people in the camp just to make my camp experience fun. In the process, I met this sweet Yoruba guy 😍 from Ondo State and also schooled in Ondo. We became good friends we got talking in the camp then I got to find out we were in the same platoon. We became inseparable and we're always together.  He also started taking me to Mami to get food we became very close in camp then we shared ideas and talked about our goals after NYSC also talked about our past relationships then we learnt we were both single. We continued as friends and one fateful day in camp he asked me to be his girlfriend. ...

My wife and I met on Tuesday, January 10, 2002, during our NYSC orientation at Isialanga Camp in Abia State. A friend at the camp knew her from secondary school. We clicked almost immediately when we met.  After the orientation camp, she was posted to Nigerian Breweries in Aba, while I served in Umuahia. We courted for two years after meeting at the camp. She wanted to get married very young, but I felt it was too early for me. We broke up due to these differences in our choices. After a while, we started communicating again, and I asked myself, what else am I looking for? One thing I appreciate about her is that she encouraged me to start our marriage at a young age, which I value to this day. Three years after our first meeting, we got married on May 7, 2005 and by next year, we will be celebrating our 20th year anniversary.  Marriage has taught me many things. It brings with it a lot of responsibilities, provided that you have the right partner. My wife has been very suppor...

Before my NYSC, I was one of the moderators in one NYSC group on Facebook. I help the admin with NYSC updates, engaging the community, and other stuff. So one day I jokingly posted that I must marry or meet the LOML during my 3-week camp. When I finally went to camp, I met some ladies, but they were not really serious, so I locked up & buried the idea. But as for this beautiful woman God gave me as a wife now, ehnn, she was quite different! We were both Batch C1, 2022. She was posted to Cross River, I was posted to Kwara State, and we both relocated to Oyo State, though we didn't know each other then. So after relocation, she DM'ed me on FB asking for directions to her PPA because I lived around that area, and it was there I knew we were both in Lagelu LGA, Ibadan, Oyo State. So we started talking, vibing, and calling but she was playing hard to get. So around the last week of January 2023, I met her in front of my street waiting for a bus ("soole"). She was going...

I was called up to camp in February 2022. Yikpata camp, Kwara State. He was in NYSC before me - Batch C 2021. He camped at Nasarawa camp. Coincidentally, we both relocated to Akwa Ibom. We met on an Instagram page called Corpers Gist. The meetup happened because I was trying to make friends in my new state of deployment. Akwa Ibom was so boring and I considered relocating back to Lagos because I lived in Lagos. So I decided to make friends with the guys around. I checked Corpers Gist because the creator of the page is a friend.  At first the guys I met on the platform were based in Calabar but I wanted guys in Akwa Ibom as I was serving in Uyo. I came across my Elvis's picture on @Corpers_Gist_  and liked it. I liked two other pictures on his profile too. I don't know how he noticed. So in return he liked my story and 5 of my pictures and he dropped the comment "cute" on another to which I replied "morning corper". So we got talking. It happened that we both...

It was October 5, 2018 at BELLS University, Ota — both of us corpers, navigating NYSC life with youthful zeal & jollof-induced optimism. I worked in the Vice Chancellor’s office. She was stationed in the Deputy Vice Chancellor’s office. That day, I was sent on a casual errand to deliver a document… only to find a corper on duty catching sweet sleep. That moment — innocent and amusing — became the spark. From professional run-ins to lingering after hours just to be around each other, our connection grew like a slow-burning fire. There was no pressure. Just presence. I completed my service year and moved to Ibadan for postgraduate studies while working. She remained in Ota, finishing her NYSC. The distance tested us but somehow stretched our hearts wider. She later came to Ibadan for her MSc, combining work and the processing of relocation — all while we continued nurturing what we believed was heaven’s pairing. In 2021, she relocated to the UK to further her studies. It was tough — ...