My National Service Experience... Part 2

Now all prospective national service personnels knew their fate. As if the Stress I went through in the PART 1 was not enough. At this point after knowing where I was going do my service I would have to go through a manual registration at the National Service Secretariat (NSS) Regional office in Accra. Thinking that the manual registration was going to be a formality I was wrong.

All the thousands of people posted to places in the Greater Accra Region had to converge there to register manually. I would have to come with my appointment letter I printed from the National service Website.

I woke up at 2am and funny enough used two hours to prepare. Since I knew I was going to work in a bank I obviously had to look formal even for the registration at the NSS regional office. I ironed and re-ironed same cloth several times till I realised that the dress was "tired". I live in the same neighbourhood with Gideon so we planned going together.

We left the house at 3:30am that day. Luckily for us there was a straight Accra Trotro waiting on our junction Santa Maria-Sowutuom Main road). We got to the regional office Monday morning as early as 4:50am.

Am sure you may be thinking we were first to get there but you are wrong. To my astonishment, many seemed to have had same strategy of getting there early to finish early. I was jiggered and google-eyed.

I joined a queue of over hundred fellow potential National service personnels. Workers at the regional office got to work at after 7am. The queue became longer and longer by a second. The officials now started work. Interesting they had to do the registration by pen and paper. Isn't it mirthful and rib-tickling !

Although registration had started people seemed to be joining from the front hence the queue wasn't moving as expected. For 2hours I stood at one place. I was able to register at around 1pm. Also, I needed to have my appointment letter endorsed so had to leave without it and come the next day for the endorsed one by the Regional Officer of NSS.

One person to endorse all the hundreds of Appointment letters. In this 21st century, Isn't it funny ! I returned for my endorsed form the next day meeting a large crowd present there to do same only to be told that the director wasn't done with the endorsements. Others were also there to go through the manual registration. We were asked to either wait or return the next day. Since I was so happy to begin the ADB experience I waited.

The endorsed forms were ready at around 3:30pm that very day. Now there was a problem, a problem as to how to ensure that everyone there gets his or her endorsed form. There was no megaphone or PA system hence names would have to be mentioned one after the other. At around 4:10pm I heard my name and hence got my form. I quickly rushed to the Cedi House building thinking that was the ADB headoffice only to be told the headoffice is on the liberation road specifically, opposite Energy Bank and adjacent to the Cal Bank Headoffice.

I took a taxi to the ADB headoffice from Cedi House. Thats very unusual of me. That's about a 15mins walk from Cedi House. In about 5mins I got there. A security man directed me to the receptionist. A very sweet, cherubic woman full of smiles by name Diana happened to be the receptionist. I must say she was very professional.

She called someone by name Mary and asked that I go to the 1st floor. I knocked at the door to the HR's office and her very affable secretary by name Mary opened the door. I had a feeling I was the first to get there as she seemed surprised as I spoke. So therefore she took my endorsed form and made a photocopy and brought it back to me. Mary took my phone number and assured me of getting back to me.

I received a call one morning from Mary to report at the headoffice. I did as expected, my form was endorsed again but this time by Madam Akwelley Adoley Bulley, Executive Head - Human Resources.

I was asked to report for an ADB National Service training on 1st October, 2014. The form was now done hence was required to send the completed form to the National Service Accra Metro District Office.

Archibald Frimpong
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