On Saturday, June 5, 2021, the federal government of Nigeria officially put an indefinite ban on the global microblogging platform; Twitter after the social media platform deleted tweets made by Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari.
The Nigerian government claimed that the deletion of the President’s tweets factored into their decision but it was ultimately based on “a litany of problems with the social media platform in Nigeria, where misinformation and fake news spread through it have had real-world violent consequences”.
The ban was condemned by Amnesty International as well as the British and Canadian missions and the Swedish Embassy in Nigeria.
Two domestic organizations – the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and the Nigerian Bar Association – have indicated intent to challenge the ban in court. Twitter itself called the ban “deeply concerning”.
However, former U.S. President Donald Trump praised censorship. “Congratulations to the country of Nigeria, who just banned Twitter. It will be recalled that Twitter banned President Trump while in office.
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Meanwhile, there have been a lot of claims that Nigeria is losing money, owing to the ban.
There’s even a report online that put a figure to it at N24. 72 billion.
However, in iBrandTV’s Program, Business 24 program on Tuesday, a renowned economist Mr. Gospel Obele, noted that the ban by the President denies Nigerians business over N2 billion daily.
He stated that the decision of the government to ban Twitter in Nigeria is not a good one at this time, considering the investments and the nation’s economy.
According to him, “There are way more implications to this than just the government.
If you look at the spread of how an economy works, there are different levels of economic agent. There is a private sector, individuals, households, consumers then you talk about the government.
“The government is just one institution out of a pool of institutions that represents different economic agent who benefits directly or indirectly on how the system runs or performs at a particular period of time.
“So the government making a sole decision that would adversely impact on the lives and engagement of other economic agents without due consultations does not sit well in the overall progress agenda of the economy as a whole. From the baseline of our economic situation, it’s not the best”
He also stated that the government making a sole decision that would adversely impact on
He advises that those affected by the ban should look elsewhere and put in mind that if the current administration can ban Twitter, it can also place a ban on any other medium.