As a new day dawned across the country of Airegin, its citizens awoke to yet another day with more-like expectations as the previous ones gone by. As usual, those in governance will make glowing promises to the masses, many of whom have been pushed to the wall by the government economic policies that have kept somersaulting. Yet, there are those it seems to favour—the elites, the government contractors and their stooges—whose lavish lifestyles paint another different picture of prosperity amidst the economic hardship often complained about by the paupers in the larger society. But on this fateful day, something unexpected happened!

The hue cry began in the financial houses spread across the geographic confinement known as Airegin. At first, it was suspected by its officials that electronic robbers known as hackers might have compromised the heavily built security architecture system the banking industries had recently migrated to, in its bid to boost efficiency and security.

But when it was learnt that all of the banking houses were affected with no trace of any hacking activities, it raised the curiousity of the chief executives who immediately summoned an online Zoom Meeting to unravel the circumstances surrounding the sudden disappearance of huge sums of money from what the CEOs described as "targeted accounts".

As the banking offices opened for the day, account officers noted some red flags on some high profile accounts among others, whose funds had gone missing, as the accounts were in zeroes. The alert was triggered when special orders have come in for transfers to be made and it was discovered no funds were in the supposed accounts. Simply put, the monies had vanished! In order not to cause panic, the CEOs decided to raise a false alarm of failed network for the next 24 hours to hopefully fish out the alarming cause of the nationwide disappearance.

Meanwhile, in a small urban city in Airegin, a stranger walked into a radio broadcasting station proclaiming he had a special message to deliver on air. Attempts by the On Air Personality to get his message before hand for assessment was rebuffed by the stranger. When finally the stranger was given the opportunity on air, he delivered his message abruptly:

"If you've cheated people to make wealth, or taken monies not belonging to you but belonged to others, that money, as I speak to you, have been taken back from you because it is not your money. No matter where you've hidden that money, it doesn't matter, it's gone. It is not yours to keep," the stranger declared on air in a stoned disposition.

Attempts made by the OAP for the stranger to shed more light on his message hit the brick wall. He simply responded, "I've delivered the message I was sent to deliver. Now, I have to go," he rose up and left the station.

The OAP who felt helpless, shrugged his shoulders and continued the day's presentation. In his mind, he suspected the stranger to be a mental patient as he couldn't understand what the message was all about, until few hours letter when a friend of his texted him a leaked information from a reliable source. The information had alleged that monies have disappeared from specific bank accounts, in what was termed as "The Financial Sneeze of All Time!"

Infact, that term was a published article from a foreign source barely few minutes ago declaring that huge sums of monies deposited in foreign accounts owned by some citizens of Airegin could not be traced. The information was leaked by an investigative foreign reporter when the foreign banks' attempted to liaise with their counterparts in Airegin, but revealed that the national banks were also having a similar occurrence experienced by the foreign banks.

The OAP, who could not keep the information to himself, decided to upload the short video recording of the stranger on air on the station's social media platforms. In less than an hour, it has gone viral prompting divided response from viewers. Some say it was all an attempt for the local station to gain popularity, while some said the stranger was only looking for attention.

And so, before the expiration of the 24 hour deadline given by CEOs could elapsed, rumours started filtering in the air that the banks were no longer safe, prompting uproar from depositors, many of whom started to visit the banks to know the status of their accounts, and if probable, to withdraw their funds. In order to prevent chaos, the government of the day declared a nationwide curfew, with the president delivering a broadcast assuring citizens that their monies were safe and that the criminals responsible for the disappearance would be apprehended.

However, before the imposed curfew, some citizens of Airegin, majority of whom were the paupers in society, and others who were civil society organisations, took to the streets in jubilation, referring to the disappearance as an act of God to punish those leaders who have, over the years, stolen from the masses and enriched themselves to the hurt of the populace.

In another development, the Inspector General of Police in Airegin, who, since the incident occured had been bombarded with calls from the affected elites that he would lose his job and other benefits if he failed to do his job, suddenly announced his resignation. He confessed he was totally lost as there was no alibi to even begin the investigation, and that the constant threats were becoming a distraction.

No sooner, journalists in Airegin began to investigate. By the end of the day, some of the known identities whose accounts were affected were disclosed. It was discovered that majority were politicians with few others in the private sector, although the amount of funds that went missing were not disclosed. Till date, the monies were never found.

NOTE: This is a work of fiction but filled with symbolism. The bottom line of the story is that ill-gotten wealth never brings true happiness but troubles. Also, no wealth can be preserved by humans forever as someday it would fizzle out. And so, rather than stash wealth away, utilise it to change or transform lives. By so doing you're building a lasting legacy which is the only thing that will outlive your identity and cause you to become timeless.

#mystorydiscourse #penglobaldiscourse