Nigerians have welcomed the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari, to lift the ban placed on the Microblogging site, Twitter.
In his nationwide broadcast to Nigerians to mark the nation’s 61st independence on Friday, President Buhari said the ban on Twitter would be lifted if Nigerians continue the use of the platform for business and positive engagements
It would be recalled that the government had on June 4, announced the indefinite suspension of Twitter’s operation following the deleting of tweets made by President Muhammadu Buhari, who had threatened to treat members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the “language they understand”.
But speaking to Nigerians on Friday, the president said, “Social media is a very useful platform that has enabled millions of Nigerians to connect with loved ones, promote their businesses, socialise, and access news and other information.
“However, recent events have shown that the platform is not just an innocuous platform for information dissemination. Rather some users have misused the platform to organise, coordinate, and execute criminal activities, propagate fake news, and promote ethnic and religious sentiments.
“To address these negative trends, the Federal Government of Nigeria suspended the operations of Twitter in Nigeria on June 5, 2021, to allow the Government put measures in place to address these challenges,” Buhari noted.
However, as the need for the proposed lifting of the ban trickled in, some Nigerians who spoke to InsideBusinessNG have applauded the development, saying the lifting of the ban was long overdue.
Tunde Adekola a graduate of Computer Science said the government acted on ignorance when announcing the suspension on Twitter.
He said, “Ignorance of a thing makes abuse inevitable. It’s a clear fact that cutting off the head doesn’t resolve migraines. Twitter as we all know is a vital forum for dissemination of information which has made a massive number of firms, businesses and individuals subscribe to using it as a major medium of communication.”
According to him, “The ban of twitter made by the government has caused more harm than good to a whole lot of individuals and businesses on Twitter. However, conditions given to lift the ban should be well scrutinised to avoid scandals unforeseen as we don’t know the intent and motive these conditions given might likely lead to.
A photographer and social media enthusiast, Akn Ashedu said the lifting of the ban on Twitter is a welcome development.
“At least for the first time in a long while there is something positive about President Muhammadu Buhari nationwide broadcast. Although I learnt the lifting would come with some conditions, it can still be embraced by Nigerians and I am happy about it pending the eventual lifting of the ban”.
He decried the suspension which caused the loss of many of his clients for whom he handled their Twitter handles.
“I couldn’t reach them anymore due to the ban by the government. I was able to move to other platforms like Instagram and Facebook, but we all know that Twitter comes with its own positivities. When I became regular on Instagram and Facebook, I met a different set of people unlike those I have on Twitter and you know influencing on these two other platforms are not as strong as Twitter”.
Another Nigerian who does business on Twitter, Dorothy Osohor however, noted that she was not affected by the ban on Twitter.
“I sell fashion items online, but though I was on Twitter, I reach most of my customers via Facebook and Instagram. I think Twitter is too serious for the kind of business I do. Facebook and Instagram come first or me before Twitter.
“So when the federal government announced the ban on Twitter three months ago, I wasn’t particularly bothered because I knew I won’t suffer much. But of course, I have friends and family members who lost some of their clients with the ban.
“It’s good that the ban would be lifted but I am kind of wary of the conditions that come with the news. It’s time the government started to shun this autocratic style and do for once what the people need and want.
On his part, a social media manager, Jide Oguntuyi welcomed the proposed lifting of the ban on Twitter, noting that the economy may be rejigged.
“If I should depend on several reports to have read in the past weeks and months, the loss as a result of the ban has been monumental. Many Nigerians shall businesses and start-ups were practically put out of business with the reckless decision by the government.
“However, it’s a good omen that the ban is ring lifted by the government. It shows the government is listening to a bit. There is no reason why the ban should remain. The fragile economy is suffering, businesses online are struggling. There are Nigerians who depend on Twitter for their daily bread and I wonder why it took the government over three months to realise how much losses citizens have obeyed from the needless Twitter ban.”
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