Netizens in Nigeria have been put in a state of frenzy as they have asked the government to fix real issues instead of always focusing on unnecessary issues like banning a social media platform. Twitter ban
This follows the Federal Government of Nigeria suspending indefinitely, the;operations of the microblogging and social networking service, Twitter, in the country after Twitter deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet posted;Tuesday where he threatened to deal with secessionists “in the language they understand”. The social media giant said the tweet violated the Twitter Rules.
Nigerians reacts to the ban
This has made Nigeria the trending topic on Twitter as netizens react to this new development. According to some people, this shouldn’t be an issue the government should;be focusing on when there are major issues such as kidnapping and numerous murder cases rising in the country.
Some also noted that it is very “shameful” that the government;didn’t realize the divisiveness and irresponsibility of President Buhari’s tweet.
Also, some heavily criticized the government calling them “clowns who don’t have the technological requirements to implement the ban”. According to them if the government was really serious about;the ban, they wouldn’t have used Twitter to announce the ban of Twitter. They also stated that the government should rather start tracking down the bandits and Boko Haram terrorists.
That notwithstanding, some influencers who gain their revenue from Twitter;have lamented over the plan to suspend the platform from the country. They noted that this was one source of income for them since the government;has refused to solve the issues of unemployment in the country. Therefore, they should review their decision and come up with something which will progress the country instead.
Meanwhile, some have vowed to resist any attempt by the government to ban Twitter in the country. They noted that even if their efforts in preventing the ban prove futile, they will travel to another country to use Twitter there. Some reactions of social media users:
Check out reactions. Also,
The suspension of Twitter in Nigeria was announced today by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, via a statement on Twitter.
The Minister cited the persistent use of the Twitter platform for activities that were capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence. Minister Mohammed stated that the Federal Government had also directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria. Also,. Meanwhile
This comes after President Buhari had released a series of tweets after meeting with the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, at the State House in Abuja on Tuesday, where he warned that those promoting insurrection and those sponsoring destruction of critical national assets would soon have the shock of their lives.
President Buhari also threatened to deal with “those misbehaving in the language they understand”.
Though the President tweeted five tweets on his meeting with Prof. Yakubu, it was the last tweet that Twitter said violated its rules and was deleted, while the remaining four tweets were retained.
In the controversial tweet which had been widely criticized by Twitter users, President Buhari said: “Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.”
The federal government accused Twitter of taking sides and said it was suspicious of the microblogging site’s role in the IPOB agitation for Biafa.
Read also: The Great Twitter Hack: Lots of famous people’s twitter accounts got hacked this week