Has Twitter agreed to open an office in Nigeria? We asked the tech company. Here’s what they said
Twitter has reacted to reports claiming it will open an office in Nigeria in 2022 as part of an agreement reached with the Nigerian government before the ban on its operations is lifted.
The Nigerian government suspended the operations of Twitter in Nigeria on June 4, 2021, for deleting a controversial tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari after many Nigerians reported it for allegedly inciting violence against the people of Southeast Nigeria.
Nigeria’s Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, who announced the ban, reportedly told State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, August 11, 2021, that the ban will soon be lifted as the tech company and the government have reached an agreement on some of the issues raised in their dialogue.
“One of the conditions that we set was that Twitter, in line with Nigeria’s Companies and Allied Matters Act, should establish a presence in Nigeria with registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission,” the minister said.
“We believe that it’s important that Twitter should have a company representative who is high up so that he/she can take complaints directly from Nigeria to Twitter. We also asked that, in addition to registering the Nigerian company, Twitter must also register with relevant regulatory authorities like NIPDA, like NCC, broadcasting commission.”
Sarah Harte, who is Twitter’s Senior Policy Communications Manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), told our correspondent, in an email exchange on Wednesday evening, that the tech company recently met with the Nigerian government to discuss why Twitter has been blocked and ways to resolve the matter.
She did not reveal details of the meeting and did not confirm nor deny Mohammed’s claim that Twitter has agreed to open an office in Nigeria next year.
“Our aim is to chart a path forward to the restoration of Twitter for everyone in Nigeria,” Harte said in the email. “We look forward to ongoing discussions with the Nigerian government and seeing the service restored very soon.”
In April 2021, Twitter announced that it is opening its Africa Headquarters in Ghana and posted job openings that are believed to be targeted at Nigerian talents.
Twitter said the new hires would work remotely as it explored the opportunity to open the office in Ghana.
Its choice of Ghana, Twitter said, is based on the country’s African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) negotiations, internet access, support for “free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet, of which Twitter is also an advocate.”
Many believe the opening of Twitter headquarters in Ghana and the use of the micro-blogging site by young Nigerians to draw global attention to the EndSARS protest in October 2020 are parts of why the government wielded the big stick against the tech company after it removed a controversial tweet by the President. Buhari claimed in a recent interview with AriseTV that the EndSARS protest aimed to remove him from office.
Meanwhile, Facebook also announced in September 2020 that it would open a new office in Lagos in 2021. It said the new office would “support the Sub-Saharan region and is expected to become operational in H2 2021.”
