How selflessness earned me Edo best corps member award — Olagunju

Olagunju Festus Olaoluwa, a graduate of Public Administration of The Polytechnic Ibadan, is a Batch A Stream II corps member. In this interview, he spoke on how selfless service gave him the best corps member’s award recently. How were you able to win this year’s award? I never saw it coming my way because I […]

Olagunju Festus Olaoluwa, a graduate of Public Administration of The Polytechnic Ibadan, is a Batch A Stream II corps member. In this interview, he spoke on how selfless service gave him the best corps member’s award recently.

How were you able to win this year’s award?

I never saw it coming my way because I was only doing my job as a corps member serving his father’s land. Before now, I have been a member of ‘Citizenship and Leadership Training Centre’ where we were taught on volunteering and selfless service. These are the core mission of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), like the NYSC national anthem.

I started my volunteering selfless service in the camp, and someone who noticed what I was doing, advised me to continue with it. So, in camp during the orientation course, I had a proposal to train corps members, and it was granted by the state coordinator, Mrs Abiodun Olubukola, and I trained them.

What made you stand out among the 1,250 corps members in the state?

What I can say distinguished me was selfless service, dedication, doggedness, and hard work.

What was your community development project?

I was posted to Egor Local Government Area of the state where I sensitized students of Uselu Secondary school on vocational and digital skills, I also did practical training on tie and dye for teachers and students of Uselu Secondary school. I also trained corps members in the local government for free. I also donated sanitation materials to Only Child and Shelter Orphanage Home in Benin City.

What was your relationship with your community?

My relationship with members of my community where I lived was very cordial.  I happened to be the head of the council corpers’ lodge in Egor local government, and that gave me the opportunity to interact with every member of the community.

Has the service shaped your leadership potentials?

I think I have seen it all, because I have had the opportunity of handling people in small places, coupled with the training I received at the leadership centre, but the NYSC made me a better man and it made me work under more pressure than I haven’t done in the past. In summary, I can say the NYSC service year made me a better man.

What is your advice to other corps members coming to the camp?

I will advise new corps members to start whatever they want to do in camp as soon as they step in because the one-year service is very short, so if they want to achieve their desires, they should start preparation as soon as they step into the camp.

What were your challenges?

Some of my challenges are time management and finances because in some of my projects, some sponsors couldn’t fulfil their pledges to me, and it somehow affected the execution of my community development projects.