At long last the Nigerian government led by President Muhammadu Buhari has lifted the suspension on Twitter operations in the country, effective from 12:00a.m. on January 13, 2022.
This was disclosed in a press statement on Wednesday by the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency and Chairman Technical Committee Nigeria-Twitter Engagement, Kashifu Abdullahi.
The statement said, “The Federal Government of Nigeria directs me to inform the public that President Muhammadu Buhari, has approved the lifting of the suspension of Twitter operation in Nigeria effective from 12:00a.m. tonight, January 13, 2022. The approval was given following a memo written to the President by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Pantami.”
Recall that when the ban was announced in 2021, it was greeted by outrage. The suspension of the microblogging and social media giant, Twitter was slammed because the platform deleted a tweet found offensive posted by President Muhammadu Buhari. For that reason, the world condemned the decision by the federal government and concluded it was a violation of the rights and freedom of the Nigerian people to communication.
Some of the diplomatic missions that expressed their displeasure against the Twitter ban included Canada, the European Union (Delegation to Nigeria), the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom,the United States of America and Norway. But the federal government justified Twitter’s suspension, saying the outfit had become synonymous with the spread of fake news and misinformation in the country.
