Twitter Ban: Buhari Faces Local, International Backlash

By Bayo Bernard

President Muhammadu Buhari must have been shocked by the local and international condemnations that greeted his government’s ban on Twitter, the US based micro blogging site over the spat his government is currently having with the site for deleting his comment last week.

Apart from many Nigerians who have massively criticized the action for grossly violating their fundamental rights, the government has not been spared by both local and international critics which chided the administration for not considering the grave implications the ban portends for the country.

Since the ban took effect on Saturday night, many Nigerians have been using the Virtual Private Network, VPN, to bypass the local GSM network providers, but the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami has also warned that those doing so will be severely punished.

Because of the role the social media platform played around the globe, critics of the Buhari government said the ban with have both diplomatic, economic and social backlash for the country.

For instance, in a joint statement issued on Saturday, by Canada, the European Union, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, they said banning systems of expression is not the way forward.

The statement was titled, ‘Joint Statement From The Diplomatic Missions Of Canada, The European Union (Delegation To Nigeria), The Republic Of Ireland, The United Kingdom And The United States Of America’.

It read, “The diplomatic missions of Canada, the European Union (Delegation to Nigeria), the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America convey our disappointment over the Government of Nigeria’s announcement suspending #Twitter and proposing registration requirements for other social media.

“We strongly support the fundamental human right of free expression and access to information as a pillar of democracy in Nigeria as around the world and these rights apply online as well as offline.

“Banning systems of expression is not the answer. These measures inhibit access to information and commerce at precisely the moment when Nigeria needs to foster inclusive dialogue and expression of opinions, as well as share vital information in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The path to a more secure Nigeria lies in more, not less, communication to accompany the concerted efforts of Nigeria’s citizens in fulsome dialogue toward unity, peace and prosperity.

The twitter ban followed the removal of President Buhari’s tweet where he said “Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand. We are going to be very hard sooner than later.”

Buhari made the statement during a meeting he had with INEC Chairman Professor Yakubu, who complained that the burning of INEC offices and other government facilities in the south east posed a serious challenge to future election in the zone.

But following the backlash that has trailed the ban, the government, however, said it did not take the action because the blogging site sanctioned President Buhari.

The minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, in a statement on Friday, June 4, in Abuja, said Twitter was suspended in the interest of Nigeria, noting that the social media site is undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.

The minister also stated that the suspension was part of the regulation of all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria by the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC.

Indeed, the federal government must have underestimated the reactions to its decision to ban twitter, which many say will now have serious consequences for the country, considering the role that twitter played in the lives of many Nigerians.

These include economic, social and diplomatic roles, which critics of the government said are now in jeopardy, because of the hasty decisions of the Buhari’s administration not to think the issue over before taking acting on it..

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state, while reacting to the issue, said the Buhari government has put the livelihood of many Nigerians, particularly youths in danger by suspending Twitter.

The Oyo state helmsman said “We should go beyond emotional reactions to issues and think about how our actions will affect the people we lead and our international ratings socially and economically.

“Twitter has become the platform for young people and indeed all Nigerians to exercise their fundamental right to express and publish an opinion.

“They use the platform to complain, argue and give feedback to the government and its agencies who in turn, use these to improve policies.

“We should also remember that Twitter has gone beyond a source of communication for many of our hardworking youths in Nigeria. It has become a source of livelihood for many, irrespective of their political affiliations or religious leanings. Nigerian youths and digital communications organisations earn a living from being able to use the platform to post communications on behalf of their clients.”

Makinde said he believes “the Federal Government should be actively interested in how certain policies and actions will affect investor confidence. I, therefore, use this medium to appeal to the Federal Government to reverse this suspension for the greater good of Nigerians.”

Nobel Laurette Prof. Wole Soyinka said the Buhari’s administration has done an irreparable damage to the international image of the country, adding that the action is a collateral damage to the freedom of expression.

According to him “If Buhari has a problem with Twitter, he is advised to sort it out between them personally, the way Donald Trump did, not rope in the right to free expression of the Nigerian citizen as collateral damage.

“In any case, this is a technical problem Nigerians should be able to work their way around. The field of free expression remains wide open, free of any dictatorial spasms!”

Amnesty International “condemns the Nigerian government’s suspension of Twitter @Twitter in #Nigeria— a social media widely used by Nigerians to exercise their human rights, including their rights to freedom of expression and access to information.”

“This action is clearly inconsistent and incompatible with Nigeria’s international obligations including under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“We call on the #Nigerian authorities to immediately reverse the unlawful suspension and other plans to gag the media, repress the civic space, and undermine Nigerians’ human rights.

SERAP, a human rights body in the country did not only condemn the action, it said “We’re suing Nigerian authorities over their ILLEGAL indefinite suspension of Twitter in Nigeria. Nigerians have a right to freedom of expression and access to information including online, and we plan to fight to keep it that way.”

At least over 40 million Nigerians are on Twitter with the social blogging site business in the country to be worth over $1 billion annually.

The economic factor was not well considered, Njoku Mcdonald   Nsofor, one of the critics of the government said, noting that what the government did was simply to send many Nigerians using the platform to eke a living into the unemployment market.

He said “President Muhammadu Buhari failed to create jobs for teeming Nigerian youths who roam aimlessly on the streets , forcing many to  resort to illicit businesses  as a means of survival. It is also on record that Nigerians make money from Twitter and other social media network service  providers; Facebook, Instagram , WhatsApp, etc, from daily basis .

“These platforms create  a large spectrum of  audience with assured  mileage , reach and social contact as the users in return make money from:

“Online marketing, online advertisement, blogging , promotion of their goods ,  services and  corporate profiling .

“No doubt, Twitter creates jobs for millions of Nigerians , but Gen. Muhammadu Buhari bans Twitter simply because the network service  provider deleted his warmongering tweet.

He said Buhari’s reaction to criticism is almost too abrasive, adding that the president was not the first leader of a country to be so sanctioned.

“Former American starchy and opinionated President, Mr. Donald Trump, received the same treatment from Twitter when he went overboard through a classified hate speech in one of his public functions!

“Did he place a ban on Twitter for doing what they considered flouting their rules of engagement and going below community standard? Obinna said

Also speaking on the economic implications for the country, the US government said step should be taken to reverse the decision immediately.

“The government’s recent Twitter ban undermines Nigerians’ ability to exercise this fundamental freedom and sends a poor message to its citizens, investors and businesses,” the President Biden US-led government said. In spite of the bashing that the administration has received so far over the matter, some school of thoughts, however insist that the suspension of Twitter was necessary to send a strong warning to social media operators, who may want to use the web to distabilise the country.

For instance, some analysts said the management of twitter was too hasty in sanctioning the president, noting that what the president said in the now controversial tweet was necessary to deter troublemakers, particularly secessionist elements in the country, whose only intent is to run the country down.

According to one analyst, who craved anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discourse, he said “no president will allow what’s going on in the south east. The only problem is that President Buhari took his Twitter sanction personally.

The president was actually not threatening Igbo, what he did was to simply send a strong message to IPOB and their co-travelers that he will not allow them to destroy the country under his watch.”

The politician from the south East further stated that “no former President in this country, whether Obasanjo or Jonathan can allow the level of wanton destruction of lives and property going on in the south east.”

Also, the Newspapers Proprietors of Nigeria, NPAN blamed Twitter for double standards in applying sanctions to violators of its community rules. For instance, the umbrella body of media owners in the country said the blogging site has been too lenient with IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu “to the extent that Twitter’s action may have been hasty in sanctioning President Buhari, and shown an uneven application to its rules against Kanu, its sincerity stands questioned. It should correct itself.”

NPAN, however, urged “the FG to backtrack from the ban it placed on Twitter, reminding it that Buhari is not the first President in the world whose post was pulled down. Former President Trump of America suffered same fate from both Twitter and Facebook. He banned none.”