Today officially marks the end of the Twitter ban issued by President Muhammadu Buhari in Nigeria after a prolonged seven months.
The news of lifting the ban was announced in a statement by the Chairman, Technical Committee, Nigeria-Twitter Engagement and Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi.
Abdullahi, in a statement in Abuja, said the approval was given following a memo written to President Muhammadu Buhari by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim.
The statement read in part, “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 am 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.
”The lifting of the ban took effect as early as 12am on Tuesday. In the statement, it was also written that the cause of the suspension was because of how badly some individuals used it for subversive purposes and criminal activities, propagating fake news, and polarising Nigerians along tribal and religious lines, among others.
According to Abdullahi, issues bordering on national security, cohesion and the effects of the abuse of the Twitter platform forced the government to suspend the operation of Twitter to address the direct and collateral issues around its operations in Nigeria.
Nigerians React to the Ban
Seven months of using VPN… the routine of turning on and off to catch up with trends on the microblogging app is exhausting, many Nigerians are happy they no longer have to do this. Especially for a reasonable number of business owners who gave up on the app because their businesses could no longer perform seamlessly. The news is indeed a huge relief.
But as much as the ban was depriving, many Nigerians still managed to sustain their enjoyment on the app with the use of VPNs and for a fact, care less if the government lifts the ban or not.
So it’s been mixed reactions so far with the hashtag #TwitterBan topping the trends. See below 10 reactions that caught our attention.
