In the noisy and overcrowded streets of Ajegunle in Lagos, dreams and talents often melted under the weight of hustle and hardship but for eighteen years old Tayo, hers was an entirely different story.
Tayo woke up early even before the call to prayer echoed from the nearby mosque, her heart leaps with excitement as she wears her only neat dress which is a yellow ankara gown her mother had sewn for her birthday two years ago. In her pocket was a raffle ticket which had Number 2049 written on it, this is the one thing she hope would change her life forever.
Some weeks earlier, a big advertisement had covered the community wall which says "Talent Hunt 2025; One Golden Ticket to Stardom!", the winner would receive a full scholarship to the National Academy of Performing Arts in Abuja with all expenses paid. It was an invitation to everyone who had any skill which can be acting, dancing, singing etc. Although it doesn't matter the skill, all that matters to the judges is raw talent.
Tayo had always been called “Radio” by her neighbours, she could mimic anyone’s voice like Mama Iya with her thick Ibadan accent or sing like Tiwa Savage without a microphone, her stage was usually the wooden bench outside her mother’s buka and her only audience were customers licking ewedu soup from their fingers, in between, her mother amala was the best in their community.
She hurriedly went to the community hall where the audition was taking place holding the precious raffle ticket that guaranteed her a chance to perform. However, there was one problem, as she tried to enter the gate, the bouncer at the gate dressed in a black polo shirt with “Organizer” written on it stretched his arm across her path and said “ Where is your ticket?” he asked. Tayo smiled and pulled out the paper in her hand “Here it is sir, Number 2049” He looked at it then frowned and said “This ticket is fake.”
Tayo’s heart skipped “Fake? No sir, I got it from Mama Chioma’s shop and I paid ₦1,000” but the man shook his head and said “See how the logo is faded, the real ones have a silver stamp so you cannot enter.”
Tears gathered up in Tayo’s eyes “Please, sir I didn’t know and I practiced for this audition for weeks.” but he said “Sorry there is nothing I can do" turning to the next person. Tayo stood there frozen, her chest ached. Sadly, she had sold her small bluetooth speaker which is her only valuable item just to buy that ticket. She turned away slowly and walked to the back of the building wiping her tears with her sleeve. That was when she heard a voice behind her “You dey cry because of ticket?”, she turned around and saw a boy about her age sitting on the edge of a gutter with a bowl of puff puff on his lap.
“My sister too no get ticket” he continued, “but she go enter somehow”, Tayo sighed and said “There is no way, they said my ticket is fake”. The boy stood up and dusted his shorts “Wetin you wan do for the audition?”, she answered and said “I wanted to act, drama is in my blood", the boy smiled, “Then act. Act for me now”, she hesitated asking questions “You? Why?”, the boy crossed his arms and said with confidence “If you no fit act for one person, you no go fit act for thousand”. His words cut through her sadness so she took a breath, wiped her eyes again and began.
She acted as a mother mourning her lost son, crying and praying in Yoruba then switching to English with tears flowing, then she acted as a drunk uncle at a wedding dancing and speaking foolishly, the boy clapped and laughed. “You be real actress, you go make it” he said.
Just then, a woman in sunglasses and a blue dress came from the building's side entrance, she had been standing nearby watching silently.
“Who trained you?” the woman asked, Tayo froze and replied “Nobody ma, I just love acting”.The woman smiled and said “I am one of the judges inside, this your performance is better than half of what we saw today, please follow me”. Tayo looked shocked. “But ma, I don’t have a real ticket.” The judge waved it off and said “Sometimes talent is your true ticket.”
Inside the hall, the organizers were preparing to announce the shortlisted finalists. The judge who brought Bimbo whispered something to the host and soon her name was called,
“Contestant No. 2049 Tayo Ademoye!!!”
The audience clapped as she walked to the stage with her legs trembling, she looked into the crowd and did her performance. Fortunately for Tayo she was later called out as the best from the people shortlisted.
When she went up on stage to collect her prize she saw the puff puff boy waving at her from the back, she smiled back not just because she was the best but because she now knew that sometimes a fake ticket could still lead to real dreams and sometimes the true golden ticket is just believing in yourself.
Note: All pictures are generated on Meta AI
