From Friend to Foe: How Twitter Became Nigerian Government’s Enemy
On Friday, June 4 the Muhammadu Buhari administration through the ministry of information and culture announced the indefinite suspension of Twitter operation in Nigeria. This was following Twitter’s decision to delete Buhari’s that referenced the Nigerian civil war.
In the official statement from the ministry of information however, the minister, Lai Mohammed, said the suspension was due to “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.”
Reaction
In reaction to the ban, the president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Olumide Akpata, condemned the order saying it had no basis in a democratic setting. He added that “Consequently, if this decision is not immediately reversed, the NBA will have no choice but to challenge same in the interest of the public and for the sake of our democracy.”
The Swedish Embassy in Nigeria and the High Commission of Canada to Nigeria in a series of tweets also condemned the ban describing it as a threat to free speech and called on the Nigerian government to reverse the decision. The United States also issued a statement saying the ban sends a poor message to investors and the citizens.
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo state issued a statement condemning the ban noting that many young Nigerians relied on Twitter to send and receive information as well as to do business.
Despite these reactions, on Saturday, June 5, the minister of justice and attorney general of the federation, Abubakar Malami, issued a statement warning that those that have been using Twitter despite the ban would be arrested and prosecuted. In a statement from the ministry, the “AGF directed the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) at his office to swing into action and commence in earnest the process of prosecution of violators of the Federal Government De-activation of operations of Twitter in Nigeria.” Despite the ban, some Nigerians have found a way around it by using VPN to circumvent the restrictions to be able to use Twitter.
Twitter Before Buhari became president
Prior to 2015 however, the microblogging app, Twitter.com, was the darling of Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress. The Twitter account of Buhari was active and was used as a channel to campaign, interact with Nigerians and keep the citizens abreast of the plans of the presidential candidate of the opposition party. The Twitter account also served as a channel to point out the shortcomings of the Goodluck Jonathan administration.
For example, in the period before the 2015 Presidential election, the account in response to criticism against Buhari’s military past said he would not focus on petty attacks directed at him.
Buhari also used Twitter to greet Nigerians every morning and even wished the citizens a Happy Valentine’s Day celebration. In one of those tweets, he asked the citizens not to be concerned about the ruling government’s antics but instead focus on the effort to get him elected.
In reaction to an opinion written by writer, Lola Shoneyin which was published in The Observer, Buhari expressed gratitude and promised that he would lead a country she would be proud of.
Post Presidential election and the sins of social media
Nigerians have turned to social media as a channel for relaying and receiving information particularly Twitter due to its trend feature. Increasingly, it has also become an avenue for critiquing and appraising all government institutions at all levels. The microblogging website is also designed in a way that allows people to become influencers with the ability to sway public opinions with their tweets to their followers which can sometimes go viral.
There have been several attempts to regulate Nigerians’ use of social media through the National Assembly. Each effort has failed.
Ten months into the Buhari administration in 2016, a so-called social media bill titled “A Bill for an Act to Prohibit Frivolous Petitions and other Matters Connected therewith” was introduced to the Senate by Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah. This was however quickly rejected by the Senate president, Bukola Saraki who also distanced himself from the bill.
In 2019, a similar bill titled the “Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulations Bill” was introduced by the Chairman, Committee on Senate Services, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa and has scaled the second reading.
Despite this effort to sanction social media, the Buhari administration has still recognised the importance of social media particularly in campaigning and winning elections. In 2015, Buhari thanked Nigerians for using social media to help him with winning the election.
In 2019, he also visited the Buhari media Centre where youths deployed social media tools to campaign for his re-election.
In 2020, three people were arrested for allegedly insulting President Buhari. The police warned that “Any person found taking undue advantage of the social media to insult others, contrary to the provisions of the Cyber Crime Act, will face the wrath of the law.”
The 2020 EndSars protest however was a turning point in Nigerian youths’ social media use as a tool for campaigning for social change. Through Twitter, Nigerians drew the attention of the world to the menace of a dreaded police unit, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad. The online protest gained its own hashtag emoji and helped to sustain the offline effort. It was also pivotal in sharing live information and to also document the activities that took place at the protest ground.
Social media also played an important role in recording and bringing attention of the world to the incident at Lekki where soldiers allegedly fired live bullets at peaceful protesters. This led to worldwide condemnation against the government. The International Criminal Court opened an investigation based on the pictorial and visual evidence posted on social media by Nigerians about the protest.
In April 2021, Twitter announced it was establishing a physical presence in Africa and chose Ghana. Many Nigerians were quick to ask why Nigeria was not selected considering the number of users of the app from the country was higher than Ghana’s. In response through a blogpost, Twitter highlighted some of its reasons. Key among them was that “as a champion for democracy, Ghana is a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet, of which Twitter is also an advocate.”
Perhaps due to the huge, sometimes harsh criticism against his government, President Buhari restricted his tweets making it impossible to reply to them. It is yet to be seen what other action the government has in plan against social media usage in Nigeria.
