Somehow, we have all believed in one particular conspiracy theory or the other, and it's funny how these theories start among a small group of people and gradually become something that circulates around the world. I blame us for believing these theories, but sometimes it's hard to differentiate lies from genuine happenings in the world. I feel like why won't we believe something like this when there are proofs even though they are just coincidences?
One of the things I understand perfectly about the world we live in is that fake news spreads like wildfire, and in the end, you can't tell exactly where it originated from. Without doing any form of investigation, we tend to believe a lot of things, and when we finally realize the truth, we are always like, Why didn't I think of this initially?
Image is mine
Within my short stay here, I have believed in so many conspiracy theories, and you can't blame much for that. Some are quite serious, while there are the silly ones that made me feel stupid after realizing the truth.
I can confidently say that 2020 was a difficult time for the world due to COVID-19, and there were so many conspiracy theories circulating at that time. When COVID-19 struck that year, a good number of the Nigerian population didn't believe there was a virus like that. We saw news of how the virus was killing people across the world, but many didn't believe it, and I was one of them.
There was a particular day the health minister came on TV to address Nigerians about COVID-19, and I just hissed because of the circulating news that COVID was fake. You can't blame us because our government take advantage of all these things in thr blink of an eyes and we weren't ready to be played by them as usual.
During the lockdown, my company asked for volunteers to work, and I went. I worked every day for about two months in different parts of my state meeting different people and never had a fever, not to mention COVID-19.
We were not done with disbelieving Covid 19 when the vaccine came, and another theory started that the vaccine was created to control the world population. I so much believed it because there were facts to back of these claims; at least I saw videos about some world leaders complaining about the population of third-world countries, so I believed that they were trying to cut down population.
After the COVID vaccine became compulsory here, I didn't go for it, and when I hear people going for it, I always discourage them. It wasn't long before a famous and wealthy man died in my neighborhood. I don't know the cause, but someone pinned it on the Covid vaccine, and that was enough evidence for us to continue believing that there was nothing like Covid and the vaccine was just a weapon against humanity.
I know so many people who went for the vaccine, and honestly, I thought they would just die one morning, but I was wrong. Seeing them still going around healthy in 2022 after taking the vaccine made me think about the fact that the conspiracy theory might truly be false because there was no concrete proof that the vaccine was a weapon against humanity, but at least we can all say that the virus died down after the vaccine went into circulation.
Back in 2023, when I was watching a program on TV, a doctor explained how COVID works and why it killed a lot of people in some parts of the world compared to others. He mentioned how people with underlying health conditions got messed up immediately they contacted Covid, and I got a clearer picture of everything that happened during that period.
A lot of people still do not believe that Covid ever existed, but the families who lost their loved ones to the virus won't forget Covid quickly. We have gone through that phase, and I hope such a pandemic never hits the world again if possible.
Speaking of conspiracy theories and misinformation, these things aren't good for society, and it's annoying why people start this false information just to mislead the public and for their personal interest. The social media has become a tool for people to spread conspiracy theories; it's really bad if we are being honest with ourselves.
I will use this opportunity to encourage people to desist from spreading false information or promoting conspiracy theories. Always investigate, and even when you think you are right, your claims might be misleading a lot of people. I will urge everyone to be careful with the things we put there.