Ogudos Scholars News

From "Allawee" to "PPA," This is the Ultimate Guide to Understanding the Language of the Service Year. You've just arrived at the NYSC orientation camp. You're surrounded by thousands of other graduates, all dressed in white, a sea of excitement and nervous energy. And then you start hearing it. People are talking about their "LGI," complaining about "SAED," and asking when the first "allawee" will be paid. Someone mentions they hope they get a good "PPA," and you just nod along, completely lost. Welcome to one of the first and most confusing challenges of the National Youth Service Corps: learning the language. The NYSC has its own unique ecosystem of acronyms, slang, and terminology. It's a language you're expected to understand from day one, and not knowing it can leave you feeling like an outsider. But don't worry. This guide is your personal translator. We will break down all the essential ...

That Moment of Panic: Where is My WAEC Centre Number? The exam date is getting closer. You've spent months, maybe years, preparing for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). You go to finalize your registration details, check your admission status, or print your slip, and your heart sinks. You can't find your WAEC Centre Number. It's a frustrating, panic-inducing moment that thousands of Nigerian students face every year. But don't worry, this guide is here to walk you through exactly what to do. Your centre number is crucial—without it, you can't check your results, print your original certificate, or even sometimes sit for the exam. Let's solve this, step-by-step. What is a WAEC Centre Number and Why is it So Important? Think of your WAEC Centre Number as the unique address of your examination location. It's a combination of digits that identifies the specific school or institution where you are registered to write your exams. It ...

It's Okay to Not Be Okay. Here's How to Manage Stress, Avoid Burnout, and Protect Your Well-being.   Let's be honest. It's Sunday evening, and a familiar knot of anxiety is tightening in your stomach. It's the thought of your desk, the endless tasks, the pressure from your boss, the unspoken expectations. You've landed the job, you're earning a salary, and you're supposed to be happy. So why do you feel so incredibly overwhelmed? This feeling is the silent epidemic of the modern workplace. We are taught how to write a CV , how to ace an interview, and how to climb the corporate ladder. But no one ever teaches us how to protect our most valuable career asset: our mental and emotional well-being. In a culture that often equates "stress" with "success" and "busyness" with "importance," it can feel like you're failing if you're not constantly running on empty. But this is a dangerous lie. Burnout is not a badge...

  How to Navigate the Fear and Uncertainty of a Career Pivot and Find Work You Truly Love. It starts as a quiet whisper on a Sunday evening, a strange sense of dread about the coming Monday. Soon, that whisper becomes a daily feeling. You sit at your desk in the "good job" you fought so hard to get—the one your parents are so proud of—and you feel a profound sense of disconnection. You look around at your colleagues, at the work on your screen, and a terrifying thought crystallizes in your mind:  "I think I chose the wrong career." For a Nigerian graduate, this can feel like a catastrophic failure. You've invested years and a significant amount of money into a specific degree. You're expected to be grateful, to climb the ladder, to build a stable life. The idea of "throwing it all away" to start over feels irresponsible, reckless, and terrifying. But what if it's not a failure? What if this feeling is actually a sign of growth? What if this rea...

It’s Not Just About Answering Questions; It's About Telling Your Story and Owning the Room. Your phone buzzes. It’s an email with the subject line: "Invitation to Interview." For a thrilling moment, your heart soars. This is it! The opportunity you've been waiting for. And then, almost immediately, a second, colder feeling washes over you: a jolt of pure, undiluted panic. The job interview is one of the most unnatural and stressful situations in modern life. You are expected to be polished, confident, and brilliant for a solid hour, all while being judged by complete strangers. It feels less like a conversation and more like an interrogation. The pressure can be immense, and it can cause even the most qualified graduates to freeze and fail to do themselves justice. But what if you could change the way you see the interview? What if you could reframe it not as a test, but as a conversation? What if you could walk into that room not as a nervous applicant begging for a ...