Twitter is known to be a universal platform used by academics, students, politicians, policymakers, public servants, and administrators. Like Facebook, it has become a platform for millions of social media enthusiasts around the world.
Estimates show that approximately 40 million Nigerians, or 20% of the country’s population, have a Twitter account.
Last June, the President made a tweet in which he threatened to punish regional secessionists. Twitter removed the President’s tweet against its terms of service and suspended his account. On June 5, 2021, the government of President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the telecom firms to block Twitter’s access to Nigerian customers. He further stated that he did not impose the embargo in retaliation but rather as a chance to persuade the corporation to align with Nigeria’s national security interests.
This prohibition met several reactions almost immediately. It was criticized in a joint statement by Amnesty International, the British, Canadian, and Swedish diplomatic offices in Nigeria, and the US and the European Union. The Nigerian Bar Association and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) have also indicated that they intend to challenge the ban in court.
While the prohibition was still effective, some Nigerians continued to tweet. They got around the process by setting up a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to access Twitter. Making the web traffic for express VPN increased by over 200 percent.
On Wednesday, January 13, 2022, the Nigerian government announced the lifting of the Twitter ban in the country. Twitter also wrote on its public policy account on January 13 that it was pleased with the resumption of its services in Nigeria.
The use of Twitter by millions of Nigerians for their entrepreneurial enterprises will significantly lead to the environment’s sustainability and contribute to economic growth among families. These entrepreneurs engage their trade through this virtual space and directly contribute to the environment’s sustainability because they do not operate their various businesses from physical offices.
Physical offices lead to the constant use of papers and other harmful products, detrimental to the environment and cause ecological damage. The continuous use of Twitter (and other social and technological platforms) as a virtual office for trade and commerce will significantly contribute to environmental sustainability since their documents and office accessories have gone digital.
Thus, lifting the Twitter suspension will help reduce unemployment, reduce poverty, and promote economic growth in the country.
