Conspiracy theories are not in the new, like rainbows, they have always come and go. As theory seeks to explain ‘things’ which are beyond human reasoning conspiracy theory however, is an explanation of an event that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful actors, often political in motivation. It is an explanation of events by conspirators working secretly to obtain some goal, usually understand with negative connotations. The thrust of this piece however is to give etymological description of conspiracy theory , demystify the idea of conspiracy theory as regards the scourge of the Corona pandemic (COVID-19), talk through conspiracy theories in the past, challenges and way forward.

*Keywords: Theory, Conspiracy Theory, COVID -19, 5G*

When we do not understand certain phenomenon like evolution of creation/man, coinage of names and origination of actions we turn to theorist and philosophers who sought explanations by giving detailed and expressive assumptions to assist our thinking. Charles Darwin best place in this collection of theorist as regards his classic evolution theory of man, David Boillat the French philosopher is also worthy of mention with his theory on the derivation of the country name Senegal. As theory seeks to explain things beyond reasoning and give some sort of conclusion to a phenomenon, the idea of conspiracy theory on the other hand, is "an intellectual construct", a "template imposed upon the world to give the appearance of order to events".(M. Barkun). Conspiracy theorists see themselves as having privileged access to special knowledge or a special mode of thought that separates them from the masses who believe the official account. Going by the above discuss on theory and conspiracy theory, the former seeks to push the frontiers of knowledge while the latter resist falsification and are reinforced by circular reasoning. In popularity Conspiracy theories are widely present on the Web in the form of blogs and YouTube videos, as well as on social media. In recent times however, the Web and social media has increased the prevalence of conspiracy theories.

*Examples of conspiracy theories*
A conspiracy theory may take any matter as its subject, but certain subjects attract greater interest than others. Favored subjects include famous deaths and assassinations, morally dubious government activities, suppressed technologies, and “false flag” terrorism. Among the longest-standing and most widely recognized conspiracy theories are notions concerning the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the 1969 Apollo moon landings, and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the death of General Sani Abacha, as well as numerous theories pertaining to alleged plots for world domination by various groups both real and imaginary. (Wikipedia)

*Types of conspiracy theory*
Michael Barkun in A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America (2003) classified conspiracy into three; *Event conspiracy theories* which refers to limited and well-defined events. Examples may include such conspiracies theories as those concerning the Kennedy assassination, 9/11, death of Military Dictator of Nigeira Sanni Abacha and the spread of AIDS. *Systemic conspiracy theories*, in this theory it is believed to have broad goals, usually conceived as securing control of a country, a region, or even the entire world. The goals are sweeping, whilst the conspiratorial machinery is generally simple: a single, evil organization implements a plan to infiltrate and subvert existing institutions. This is a common scenario in conspiracy theories that focus on the alleged machinations of Jews, Freemasons, Communism, or the Catholic Church. *Superconspiracy theories* For Dr. Barkun, such theories link multiple alleged conspiracies together hierarchically. At the summit is a distant but all-powerful evil force.

*The Corona Virus (COVID-19) and the 5G Theory*
The global community is facing a decimating challenge in her health system as a result of the scourge of a virus called Corona, novel as it is, the Orients (China) where it was first recorded has witnessed a lot casualties in loss of life as humans are wanderers the geographical spread of the virus has plagued the Western world with the ‘international police’ (U.S.A.) of the globe not exempted even scoring high in recent statistical casualties of the COVID-19. The African fragment has neither escaped this novel disease but her cases are still relatively low compared to other nations of the world. In this period of wide uncertainty in the world as regards the pandemic, the ‘cold’ economic and political rivalry between the Orient and Occident has snowball into theories and counter-theories in explaining the origin, cause and course of the disease. One president fiercely remarked that it is a ‘Chinese virus’ while another indicted the U.S. Forces of masterminding atomic drop into the Chinese peninsula and causing the outbreak of the virus. In the scheme of things is also the 5G theory which has emerged as a tool for the cause of the virus to wipe out a major fragment of the world by a leading Oriental state. The 5G theory as the cause of the pandemic rhetorically evoked thought with astronomic and scientific terms of ‘radiation, combustion etc’ but there is no doubt it is a conspiratorial remark from forces of the East-West rivalry.


*Challenges and way-forward*
The challenge of the world as regard conspiracy theory and more importantly in this particular time is it will slow the pace of finding a panacea to combat the decimating virus and also causing divide in actions and reactions (Christ vs Anti-christ) among the people of the world instead of facing the challenges together as one body that have come one single father Adam. The gain of conspirators is to see divided opinion and distractions as it is now and only through right education and understanding of events which can only be known from regulated bodies and government agencies. The strong intensification of the theory has shown the level of fake news in the world today and it is better to flatten the curve by getting real and accurate information from the right bodies and professionals before spreading the news. As it is now one of such agent of causing divide in the world of today is fake and unverified news or information.
Conclusively, the piece tries to give an insight of what conspiracy theory is all about and scholastic opinion on the concept and what it tries to achieve. It further considered examples of conspiracy theory in the past and types of conspiracy theory. Centrifugal to the piece however is the discourse on Corona virus and the 5G theory which seeks to explain an internet spectrum of advancement of technology as the cause of the novel pandemic. A tool and result of the East-West eco-political rivalry as events unfolds. The article ends her submissions with the challenges and way-forward of the world on the 5G theory of COVID-19 which seeks to bring the idea of divide among the world instead of solidarity in the period of uncertainty.

_*A.O Mahmud*_
*An avid seeker of knowledge and political analyst*

OP pls help push it to front page