Following Twitter’s ban in Nigeria seven months ago, the country has finally lifted the ban on the social media giant after positive talks were held on how to resolve the issue.
On June 4th, the Nigerian government suspended Twitter after it removed a post from President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish regional secessionists. Twitter said Buhari’s tweet, in reference to the 1967-70 civil war in the southeastern Biafra region that killed 1 million people, violated its “abusive behaviour” policy leading to a 12-hour suspension of his account.
In retaliation, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension of Twitter, citing the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.
Two months later, both parties met and discussed terms on how to lift the ban and how the social media giant can work better with the government, among which was Nigeria’s demand for Twitter to set up an office in the country, to which an agreement was met.
With the latest update, it looks like the discussions were fruitful and now Twitter has been successfully restored.
The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Abdullahi, announced the lifting of the suspension in a statement saying president Buhari had given the approval to lift the suspension.
Kashifu Abdullahi was the chairman of the committee set up by the Nigerian government to oversee talks between the country and Twitter after the ban.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) directs me to inform the public that President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has approved the lifting of the suspension of Twitter operation in Nigeria effective from 12am tonight, 13th January 2022.’’
“The approval was given following a memo written to the President by the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim. In the Memo, the minister updated and requested the President’s approval for the lifting based on the Technical Committee Nigeria-Twitter Engagement’s recommendation,”he added.
Abdullahi’s statement said Twitter has ‘’…agreed to act with a respectful acknowledgement of Nigerian laws and the national culture and history on which such legislation has been built…,”
It added that the company would work with the federal government and the broader industry “to develop a Code of Conduct in line with global best practices, applicable in almost all developed countries,” it said.
The statement also said that Twitter had agreed to comply with applicable tax obligations on its operations under Nigerian law. ‘’It has agreed to enrol Nigeria in its Partner Support and Law Enforcement Portals,” the statement read.
Twitter in a tweet posted on its public policy handle welcomed the lifting of the ban.
We are pleased that Twitter has been restored for everyone in Nigeria. Our mission in Nigeria & around the world, is to serve the public conversation.
We are deeply committed to Nigeria, where Twitter is used by people for commerce, cultural engagement, and civic participation.— Twitter Public Policy (@Policy) January 13, 2022
