Twitter Ban: The Federal Government of Nigeria to Engage With Twitter

The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari has approved the composition of the Federal Government’s Team to engage with Twitter over the recent suspension of the operations of the microblogging and social networking service in Nigeria. This follows after Twitter wrote to President Buhari seeking to engage with the Federal Government over the suspension.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed made this known in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday. The Federal Government’s team has Lai Mohammed as the chair as well as the Attorney General of the Federation and Honourable Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola and Honourable Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo as well as other relevant government agencies.

Recall that the Minister said that the reason for the indefinite suspension of the micro blogging site operations in Nigeria is on account of giving room for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.

More and more people in Nigeria are beginning to realize the significant role of social media in businesses, job creation, advocacy and even politics. So many young people, rely on social media platforms and tech to solve local problems in Nigeria. In 2019, there were about 24.59 million social network users in Nigeria, a figure projected to grow to 44.63 million users in 2025 as more people get access and better understanding of the social media.

Many Nigerians are keeping their fingers crossed that this move would to chart a path forward, ease the tension and make Twitter accessible again.