© 2026 ONAJOMO KESIENA. All Rights Reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without permission from the author.
Mike adjusted the strap of his backpack as the bus finally came to a halt. The loud voices of conductors and passengers filled the air as he stepped down into the chaos of Ibadan.
This was it.
A new state. A new beginning.
He wiped the sweat forming on his forehead and looked around. Everything felt unfamiliar—the language, the roads, the people. But he had no choice. This was his National Youth Service year, and he had to make the best of it.
"Corper! Corper!" someone shouted from behind.
Mike turned. It was a young boy, probably a porter, offering to help carry his bag.
"I'm good," Mike replied with a small smile.
He wasn't just here to serve. He was here to survive… and hopefully, to build something for himself and his family.
Being the last child of five, with only his mother left to depend on him, Mike carried more than just a backpack—he carried responsibility.
His father had died when he was just five. Since then, life had never been easy.
"Make money… build something… don't waste this opportunity," his elder brother Nathan had told him before he left Delta State.
Those words echoed in his mind as he found his way to the corpers' lodge.
Later that evening, lying on his thin mattress, staring at the ceiling fan that barely worked, Mike whispered to himself:
"This year must count."
He didn't know yet…
That Ibadan was about to change his life forever.