*David and the Microphone in the Market*
*David and the Microphone in the Market* David was 12 years old, and he lived in Kaduna with his mom and little sister. He didn’t have expensive shoes, or a new phone, or even his own room. But David had one thing no one could take from him: *his voice*. Every Saturday, the market was loud. Sellers shouting, generators humming, music blasting from phone speakers. But when David started to sing, people would stop. It began by accident. One day his mom was selling oranges, and the radio battery died. The customers were bored. David, shy and holding his cap, quietly started humming an old gospel song his grandma taught him. His voice was soft at first. Then stronger. By the second verse, people had gathered around the orange table. An old man dropped ₦100 in David’s cap. A woman recorded him on her phone. Word spread: “That boy with the voice is at the market.” David started getting invited to sing at church, at school assemblies, even at small birthdays. He didn’t have music lessons. He just listened. He’d hear a song once on the radio and sing it back perfectly the next day — with his own feeling in it. The hard part? People told him to quit. “Focus on school, David.” “Singing won’t pay bills.” “You need connections.” But David practiced every night. While his sister slept, he’d sing into a plastic bottle pretending it was a microphone. He wrote his own songs about hope, about Kaduna rain, about not giving up. One day a talent scout came to his church for a program. She heard David sing from the back row. After service she asked, “Boy, who trained you?” David smiled and said, “God, my grandma, and YouTube.” Three months later, David was on a small TV talent show. He was nervous. His knees shook. But when the music started, he closed his eyes and sang like he was back at the market — just him, the song, and the people who needed to hear it. He didn’t win first place. But after the show, a music teacher offered him free vocal lessons. A studio owner said, “Come record one song with me.” David is 15 now. He still helps his mom sell oranges on Saturdays. But on Sundays, he sings in church, and people still stop to listen. He tells his sister: *“Talent is a seed. If you water it, eve
By Blessing A.