Volcanic eruption of COVID- 19 conspiracy theories

EVER since the day Adam and Eve fell for Lucifer’s deception, the root of evil was planted deep in the soul of mankind. From the moment man engaged the slithering serpent in a conversation, wickedness became woven into the fabric of our universe. There remains for man no hiding place from evil. The shades of evil will always be found everywhere you go and in every corner you turn. The silhouette of evil casts a long shadow over the affairs of mankind. No matter what we do and however much we try, we are never going to rid the world we live in of evil. While from time to time, God in His mercy stays the hand of evil from coming near our dwelling and He’s able to stop the long claws of evil from piercing our habitation, God will not banish evil from our world.

That is until such a time when the events in the calendar of God for the world has been fulfilled. Our world is a wicked place and that is the reality of our existence. Nevertheless, in the midst of pervading evil, God has established righteousness. Through the dark clouds of vileness, the ray of goodness always shines through. The goodness in our world is seen in all the things that bring reprieve from all our sweat and provide us relief from our toil. Goodness can be found in the things that lengthen our days and make our days on earth a little bit more tolerable. Goodness in our world is the advancement in science and technology that has transformed communication, education, and transportation. Goodness is the innovation in medical science and medical engineering that has led to the eradication of many sickness and diseases and provided cure for what once was a death sentence; as a result of which people are living longer and more productive lives. The goodness in our world includes revamped banking system, modernized financial market, and a more equitable social system. Goodness has revolutionized the reach and access to information. The way we entertain ourselves to release the stress of our daily existence has also been touched by the goodness that exists in this world.

You see, technological and scientific inventions in and of themselves are not inherently evil. There is nothing nefarious about vaccines by which the world has been able to eliminate some of the deadliest communicable diseases that afflict mankind and has given some of the poorest children of the world a new lease on life. The internet and the worldwide web are not satanic inventions. They are tools that provide access to abundance of information that we erstwhile never had, and because of them, our knowledge and wisdom have taken a quantum leap. Living in a world that is interconnected through the ingenuity of technology is not a bad thing, it is just another evidence that despite being prone to iniquity man is still capable to use their mind to achieve a greater good. Aeronautical engineering and air travel have shrunken distances between far- flung places and turned the world into a global village of intermingling and cohabitating souls. This has been a much welcome boom for the spread of the Gospel for it has made it possible to bring the good news of salvation to billions of otherwise unreached people. Technology has simplified banking and commerce.

Gone are the days when banking transactions required a visit to the bank. But now that we are able to bank online, we can avoid having to stand in line. Retail giants like Amazon and Walmart are technological disruptors who have turned online shopping into a thing of joy. Broadband internet and wireless networks have produced major improvements not only in entertainment but also in learning and commerce. Tele- education and remote learning have made attainment of a higher education a possibility for many. Telemedicine has brought healthcare to the remotest outposts in the world. Labor productivity has risen, and job satisfaction increased, by the technology like Skype and Zoom that make telework and telecommuting possible. With more people working from home there are fewer cars driving on the highways which in turn diminishes carbon emission that protects our environment. Less time spent on driving also translates to fewer road accidents and the associated morbidity and mortality.

The transition from 4G mobile technology network to a next generation 5G is not the antiChrist showing his evil hand. It is only a proof of the residual goodness in the heart of man shining through causing him to seek to make the world a better place. The 5G mobile technology has the potential to positively transform our world in immeasurable ways. It is billed to provide a much faster and more reliable internet and mobile connections for users. “5G could even usher in a new era of “smart cities” in which energy grids, traffic signals, and emergency services are linked to reduce inefficiencies” ( NBC News). With its ultra- low latency, i. e. the short lag time between a device pinging a network and getting a response, remote surgeries between two distant locations become a possibility.

For instance, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Harvard’s Massachusetts General Hospital ( MGH) can remotely perform surgery to separate a pair of conjoined twins at University of Ibadan’s University College Hospital ( UCH), giving these kids the opportunity to achieve a good quality of life, attain to their God given potentials, and grow up to become productive citizens as adults. Creating an individualized digitalized identity program, either through vaccines or some other platforms, to ensure that the millions of poor, vulnerable and displaced people of the world can “access essential health and social services, apply for jobs, open mobile money accounts in their own name, and buy what they need most for themselves and their families,” is nothing diabolical, and it actually improves the wellbeing and standard of living of many.

Among all of God’s creation, Satan is a master imitator and counterfeiter. The devil does not have the seed of creativity in him; only the man into whom God breathed the breath of life can create and produce something good. But because the nature of the world is inherently evil, the goodness in our world is always subject to corruption by the devil. Satan’s specialty is to twist, imitate, and pollute everything good that is created. For every pure and pleasant thing that exists in this world, Satan always works to make impure and rotten. He pollutes the goodness of science and creates a counterfeit of technology. And his counterfeit is always odious.

Ojumu, MD, MPH, of US National Institutes of Health, wrote United States of America.