Calling all Aje-Butters!

Hi everyone!

Welcome to my blog. I'm guessing you happened upon this blog because you are looking for a little insight into the NYSC, and are possibly an "Aje-butter" just like me!

First things first, let me introduce myself - wait, do I want my real name on here? I'll be posting pictures, so I might as well say my name... But then, what if I have something negative to say about NYSC and they find me out? Erm, let's just go with one of my nicknames – Hi, my name is Berry :)

I'm starting this blog as a sort of cheat-sheet to fellow Aje-Butters (definition coming up next) who are interested in registering for the NYSC Program in Nigeria. *side note* I lived in the US and will only be using US spellings, so don't expect any "programmes" on this blog.

Two Very Important Definitions

1. NYSC: National Youth Service Corps. To sum it up in as few words as possible, I’d describe it as “A year of internship and community service.” In an upcoming blog post, I’ll give a broader definition, history and objective of the program.

2. Aje-Butter: For this, I turned to my dear friend, Google. The most comprehensive definition I found was from Ajebutter - Neologisms

A very rich or spoilt kid, a weakling. Ajebutter is an extremely popular term used by all Nigerians i.e. both adults and children in describing a spoilt kid or weakling. It has a negative connotation…”

For the record, I TOTALLY disagree with this definition! I’m not very rich, spoilt, or a weakling *insert BB uninterested smiley here* I hereby define ‘Aje-Butter’ as 

“An individual born into a privileged lifestyle in Nigeria.”

Characteristics of Aje-Butters include but are not limited to:

a.       Born, bred, schooled and/or lived abroad for a significant amount of time;

b.      Raised in families with drivers, cooks, maids, house-keepers, security guards, etc – basically, household chores were taken care of by hired hands;

c.       Regular jaunts abroad for summer, winter, shopping, any-day-of-the-week holidays;

d.      Owners of premium merchandise – clothes, electronics, cars, etc;

e.   Privileged backgrounds - family can be considered [relatively] wealthy

Feel free to dispute or add to the list of characteristics...

I think I’ve given a good enough starting point to this blog. Throughout its run, I will be touching on a few topics, such as:

• Why I left the US after 15 years to come back to Nigeria
• Introduction to the NYSC
• Registering for NYSC
• Guide to surviving NYSC Orientation Camp
• Post-Camp/Primary Assignment
• NYSC and Community Development Service
• Passing Out

I welcome comments, questions, and discussions but must say that I cannot and will not tolerate any rudeness or disrespect. So kindly keep all comments clean and polite, and we’ll be fine and dandy

Gotta run now… hugs n kisses!