The Nigeria Government after seven months officially announced it has lifted Twitter ban and restriction of operation of the social media platform in the country.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday approved the lifting of the suspension of Twitter operation effective from 12am tonight, 13th January 2022. This announcement was made through the Chairman Technical committee Nigeria-Twitter Engagement and director general of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Inuwa Abudllahi, CCIE.
The approval was given following a memo written to the President of Nigeria by the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim. In the Memo, the Minister updates and requests the President’s approval for the lifting based on the Technical Committee Nigeria-Twitter Engagement’s recommendation.
The Government of Nigeria asked Twitter to fulfill some conditions before restoring its services. And Twitter has agreed to all the demands which includes, legal registration of operations, taxation, and managing prohibited publication in line with Nigerian laws.
Recall, that on June 5, 2021, Nigeria Government indefinitely suspended the operation of Twitter after it deleted a tweet from the President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish regional secessionists. A few days later federal government of Nigeria said the ban on operations of Twitter in the country will be lifted only when “responsible communication” can be assured on the popular social media platform. The government further claimed that the suspension of Twitter operations was to protect the sovereignty of the country and address issues bordering National security caused by the use of the platform. The Government through the Attorney-General Abubakar Malami enforced the ban and threatened to immediately arrest its citizens and prosecute offenders, for tweeting. Most users in Nigeria had to evade the Twitter ban using virtual private networks (VPNs) while others decided to temporarily leave the platform.
Popular social media influencer tweeted this after the ban was lifted;
