President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday during his Independent Day anniversary broadcast to the nation said he had given his approval for the suspension of microblogging site Twitter to be lifted once the conditions set by the Federal Government are met.
“Following the extensive engagements, the issues are being addressed and I have directed that the suspension be lifted but only if the conditions are met to allow our citizens continue the use of the platform for business and positive engagements,” he said.
The action of Nigeria against Twitter was taken in June because it was being used for activities capable of threatening the corporate existence of Nigeria, a move that gave rise to abuse and disagreement. Although some people had said that the action was because Twitter deleted a tweet by president Buhari, but the Federal Government insisted that the move had nothing to do with that and was in the interest of the nation.
In the President’s Independence anniversary speech, he explained the decision, insisting that although social media had many benefits, there were dangers that the government had to address.
“Social media is a very useful platform that has enabled millions of Nigerians to connect with loved ones, promote their businesses, socialise, and access news and other information,” he said.
“However, recent events have shown that the platform is not just an innocuous platform for information dissemination.
“Rather some users have misused the platform to organise, coordinate, and execute criminal activities, propagate fake news, and promote ethnic and religious sentiments.
“To address these negative trends, the Federal Government of Nigeria suspended the operations of Twitter in Nigeria on June 5, 2021, to allow the Government put measures in place to address these challenges.”
After the suspension, a Technical Team set up by the Nigerian government initiated talks with Twitter. The Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed in August said that progress had been made in the negotiation.
On Friday, President Buhari explained that the engagement between Nigeria and Twitter was to address “key issues” related to national security and cohesion, registration, physical presence and representation (of Twitter in the country), fair taxation, dispute resolution, and local content.
“As a country, we are committed to ensuring that digital companies use their platform to enhance the lives of our citizens, respect Nigeria’s sovereignty, cultural values and promote online safety,” he said of his directive that the suspension should be lifted but only if conditions are met.
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