MARKET BLISS

Dear Diary,

The Venue was Yaba Market, Lagos and the time was 10:50 a.m

It was a typical Thursday morning after environmental sanitation. Puddles of water on the road following the slight drizzle early in the day. Some sellers were dusting their wares and praying over them while others were discussing with fellow market sellers about issues that were obviously dear to them.

Approaching the end of the market, sounds of drums and pianos were heard. Moving forward the sounds become clear and you would think there was a new church in Yaba market. Still, you are wrong.

A clearer look into the market shows you a group of young men, some dressed in traditional outfits and others in cooperate outfits. There were Bata Drums, a piano, tambourine, timbales and other locally made music instruments. It was not a church as earlier proposed but a praise and worship session. The sound produced by the combination of those instruments was truly music to the ears.

Chanting "ku sai anointing...", they danced with so much energy that onlookers thought they were high on drugs. They danced so well and hard, people started murmuring that they must have taken narcotic drugs to be that energetic. This got me thinking; can a human being perform well at something without people attaching it to drugs? Is the human body not wired to perform well? Answers will be provided in another post.

This praise and worship session kept on springing surprises because midway into the session, they announced it was time for offering. This further confirmed the fact that a church is not a building but the people in it. Surprisingly, people started dancing forward to drop their offerings. 

The happiness on the faces of the performers and onlookers was heart warming. A woman even came and took over the drumming of the wooden drum. I just stood there smiling, imagining how it must have started for them. Maybe they were brothers with no formal musical training but still they could give some musicians a run for their money. 

At the end of it, they prayed over the offering, the market and their businesses. Sharing the grace, they prayed for friends and family.

What did the Young Black woman go to do in the market? What every young girl goes to do there... :p

P.S: what's #BringBackOurGirls all about? Find out in the next Post.