FG lifts Twitter ban

 By Aderoju Noah



The Federal Government of Nigeria has lifted the ban on Twitter after 
seven months.

The lifting of the ban was announced in a statement by the  Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Abdullahi yesterday.

"The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) directs me to inform the public that President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has approved the lifting of the suspension of Twitter operation in Nigeria effective from 12am tonight, 13th January 2022." The statement partly reads.

Recall that the microblogging site's operations were suspended in the country on the 5th of June 2021 after it deleted a controversial tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari for going against its terms and policies.

Twitter suspension made it inaccessible to businesses, corporate organisations, media houses and every Nigerian. Making those who want to only able to access it through using Virtual Private Networks (VPN)

According to Kashifu, the decision was informed by a memo written by the Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Pantami to the President, requesting for it based on the recommendation of the Technical Committee Nigeria-Twitter Engagement.


Nigeria Economy Records Huge Loss Due to the Ban


The Guardian Nigeria reported that the ban has made the Nigerian economy incur a loss of  N546.5 billion over the 222 days of suspension.
It based the figure on the global Internet monitor, NetBlocks' Cost of Shutdown Tool, which reports that Nigeria loses N104.02 million ($250,600) every hour and N2.46 billion daily.

Many Nigerian small businesses, startups, digital platforms and social media marketers and influencers also decried huge loss and a great adverse effect on their source of income im different reports published on various media platforms.

Agreed Condition between Twitter and FGN

To have this ban lifted, Mr Kashifu noted that Twitter has agreed to and already fulfilled some conditions it sets for it to resume operation in Nigeria which include:
1. Establishing a legal entity in Nigeria during the first quarter of 2022 by registering with the Corporate Affairs Commission.
2. Appointing a designated country representative to interface with Nigerian authorities.
3. Complying with applicable tax obligations on its operations under Nigerian law.
4. Enrolling Nigeria in its Partner Support and Law Enforcement Portals.
5. Acting with a respectful acknowledgement of Nigerian laws, national culture and history and working with the FGN and the broader industry to develop a Code of Conduct.

Kashifu in his statement claims the whole process of the suspension and resolution has helped lay a foundation for a mutually beneficial future with endless possibilities between Nigeria and Twitter.

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