Twitter Ban: Buhari lift ban, says only for business and serious people

Nigeria President, Muhammadu Buhari has ordered that the lifting of the ban on microblogging site, Twitter, said only for business and serious-minded Nigerians

He made the disclosure in his October 1 independence anniversary speech on Friday morning.

You will recall that the Federal Government of Nigeria suspended the operations of Twitter in Nigeria on June 5, 2021, to allow the Government to put measures in place to address these challenges.

Although, as at the time of writing this report, you still can not access the microblogging platform without VPN, plans are still ongoing with the communication network providers to correct that.

The President said the lifting of the ban is based on Twitter meeting the conditions set by the Presidential Committee (and its Technical Team) over which they engaged with Twitter.

Furthermore, he described social media as a very useful platform but regretted that some users have misused the platform to organise, coordinate, and execute criminal activities, propagate fake news, and promote ethnic and religious sentiments.

“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, the President said,

“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.

“Following the suspension of Twitter operations, Twitter Inc. reached out to the Federal Government of Nigeria to resolve the impasse. Subsequently, I constituted a Presidential Committee to engage Twitter to explore the possibility of resolving the issue.

“The Committee, along with its Technical Team, has engaged with Twitter and have addressed a number of key issues. These are National Security and Cohesion; Registration, Physical presence and Representation; Fair Taxation; Dispute Resolution; and Local Content.

“Following the extensive engagements, the issues are being addressed and I have directed that the suspension be lifted but only if the conditions are met to allow our citizens to continue the use of the platform for business and positive engagements.

“As a country, we are committed to ensuring that digital companies use their platform to enhance the lives of our citizens, respect Nigeria’s sovereignty, cultural values and promote online safety.”