Of End Times and Conspiracy Theories

(By Immanuel James Ibe-Anyanwu) - First time I encountered jaw-dropping conspiracy theory was during the much-touted news of ECOWAS working to soon introduce a regional currency, the Eco. 

"It's what the Bible warned concerning the End-times. That the devil will rule the world with a single currency. Look at Euro in the Eurozone. It's all coming together," said a banker-friend who had an MBA. I was still seeking university admission. He had been drawn to what he called my "superb intellect", seeing the kind of books he often saw me reading. I was then obsessed with Karl Marx, Hegel, and Plato.

"Don't let your little intellect deceive you into arguing about spiritual matters." That was his retort to my argument that the proposed Eco had nothing to do with some unitary satanic government. My intellect had dwindled.

One thing though: the Satan guy isn't perhaps as clever as we thought, seeing as he let West-African leaders kill that Eco dream. He is now busy attending village witchcraft meetings rather than strengthening a shambolic Eurozone crucial to his future government.

 

Then there was the internet, which was seen as a system for the bruited End-time global satanic administration. Even Nollywood made a movie about it, linking the letters 'www' to some devilish shorthand so coded for deceit. Many believers forbade the internet for long. 

As we speak, some still do. While planning to settle down, I remembered a lady friend I hadn't seen for years. I found out she was still single and reached out. A good lady. Over the years she had become born-again, attending one popular fanatical church in Lagos. We spoke for long on phone catching up on old times and so on. Her condition for marriage was simple: I must be born-again and forsake the world. Fair enough. 

Forsake the world. Somewhere in the conversation she revealed the meaning. She was neither on Facebook nor on WhatsApp. Reason: those are tools the devil is using to steal souls for his kingdom, initiating people into the occult through their photos, luring others to sin. She mentioned verses in the Bible that "prophesied" these things. She's a graduate.

"If you open your spiritual eyes you will see the end is near, you will forsake all these worldly things."

I agreed with her and fled. 

Recently going through my old timeline here, I saw a post I made about a related subject. Obama had just become American president and the conspiracy factory was on full production. I wasted my time on that thread challenging all the commenters whose standard argument was that I was just "spiritually blind." (I wish I could tag them here now). They went on interpreting this and that sign, linking this event to that prophecy, finding insane meanings in Obama's emergence and the notorious 999. Conclusion: Obama would be the last American president. 

And truly he was for, after him, the Trump-et blew.