Twitter Ban in Nigeria

It's been almost a week since the use of Twitter, the world's most popular microblogging site has been restricted in the Nigerian geographical region. The ban or more appropriately suspension was as a result of a Tweet by the Nigerian president suggestive of persecution being removed from view by administrators of the site.

The president was obviously embarrassed by this move and in an effort to get back at the site, ordered a prohibition on it's use within the country, citing spread of fake news and hate speech within Nigerians at home and abroad as reasons for the suspension.

The truth is that the government of the sitting president, Mr Buhari has little tolerance for freedom of expression. It is said that he actually long ago hatched plans to prohibit use of Facebook and Twitter in Nigeria and generally restrict use of social media within the country.

With this ban on Twitter, a lot of Nigerians who depend on social media for carrying out their business are presently suffering severe losses. The latest rumour now is that the president is planning to shut down the internet on June 12, Democracy day. For those who don't know the person of Mr Buhari, he was a military dictator who rose to power in the 80s through a military coup. He is presently president after winning elections in a general poll that was fraught with violence and electoral malpractice.

I won't be shocked if some day a simple messaging app like WhatsApp is banned by this government in modern day Nigeria.

👆Mr Muhammad Buhari, a No Nonsense Tyrant