This young man was working at a construction site when all of a sudden he took a long pause, with a countenance mixed with joy and surprise, not that type of look people mostly have when they think they have seen a ghost. But the way he dropped the shovel and said, "I remember!" caught the attention of everyone around him. He says he had just remembered the whole 16-digit. And whatever it is that he remembered seems important because he needs a paper to write it down. He scribbles some numbers on the ground with a twig. "This is the account number."
"The one I used in my previous life", he says with a look of conviction...

It really felt funny, but the seriousness in him did not allow anyone to laugh.

He was fine all day, but could it be that he went on colos during the noon break?

Addressing the people he was working with, he said, "I can vividly remember, I was rich in my previous life, and I have been having fragmented memories of my past life. Some are just too fragmented that it's hard to make any sense of it".

Victor, the guy pushing the wheelbarrow, asked curiously, "Do you mean you were a rich dude in your former life and had good money stuck in a bank account, but so poor in this life that you need a daily paid job to survive?"

Nsikak responds. "I am not making this up, and now that I remember this account number, I will pay the bank a visit. If this one is also true, hmmm!

Victor asked
"Do you mean you have remembered something that turned out to be true?"

Nsikak: Not really, but how will you explain why I remember things and understand a language I did not learn?

Victor: Your head may just be making these things up

Nsikak: We will know for sure when I get to the bank tomorrow.

At the Bank

Hungry and uncertain, Nsikak writes the account number on a torn sheet of paper and asks for the account balance.
He is handed a keypad and asked to enter the passkey. Without hesitation, he types in 1972.
Then looked at the lady in the eyes and noticed as her eyes beamed and lit up.

Are you..Sir, are you Kelven C. Maduka?

He did not get the name well but he said yes. And was curiously waiting for the lady to say something. But she gently turned the screen towards him while saying "this account has been dormant for the past 30 years.

Nsikak was holding down his shock, first at the amount in the account and secondly at the fact that the name was Kelven C. Maduka, an Igbo name. And the face was not his but looked really familiar like something he has looked at for many years.

Now I know why I understood the Igbo language. I must have been an Igbo man in my previous life, explaining why I was so rich. The Igbos are known for being great and successful businessmen.

But at the moment, Nsikak is wondering what the initial C. stands for. He suspects that it would be an Igbo name, a common Igbo name like Chukwuemeka, Chijioke, Chidi or another Igbo name.
It's ok, he said to the lady. As he turned and walked away. His face was beaming with a concealed smile and a lot of unanswered questions. He was still not sure of the number of digits in that account balance. It was surely more than six, maybe seven or eight.
But what he is sure of is the fact that hope has vanquished the pangs of hunger he was enduring.

Back at the site

Nsikak is back at the site, not to work but to tell Victor how it all went.
The fact that the account number was real and its pass key was also correct. He also mentioned that the account had been dormant for 30 years and was holding six point five million naira.

You know that is not what was in the account, right?
Nsikak must be trying to downplay the amount.
Victor thinks he should have printed an account statement to be more convincing.

Are you sure you are not modelling with someone's account? Victor is still being sceptical about the whole thing. But if it is true, would he want to learn how to remember?
What if he remembers he was an armed robber or something worse?

Do you remember anything about your past life? Why is it as if we are all first-timers?
How many times have you been alive?
Will you will you love to remember?

I am inviting @dequeen, @bela90, @ninapenda, @eliany, @bossj23 and @josepha to engage and share their thoughts.

Media Credit

Composer	@manuelhooks
Captured with	Galaxy-A15
Entry type	Freelance
Community	Steem4Nigeria
Date	Wednesday.. 20th August
	(@) 2025