#Twitterban as a needless distraction

Truth be told, I see last Friday’s indefinite suspension of Twitter in Nigeria as a needless distraction. It is a deliberate ploy by the Federal Government to take the minds of Nigerians off the raging banditry, kidnapping, insurgency and insecurity that have enveloped the country. Why should the deletion of one out of several thousands of tweets made ‘supposedly’ by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), warrant the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria? When the microblogging media platform deleted some posts and suspended President Donald Trump of the United States of America from its platform in January after the unfortunate attack on the Capitol by supporters of the former president, did Trump suspend Twitter operations in the US?

Last week in this column, I cited our unenviable position of the country in the Chandler Good Governance Index, was Twitter responsible for it? Here is an excerpt from that article: “Let’s take a look at the Good Governance Index as it relates to Nigeria. In April this year, there was a report which indicated that Nigeria was ranked in the 102nd position out of 104 countries captured in the inaugural Chandler Good Government Index which classifies countries in terms of government capabilities and outcomes. The data is aggregated to produce a score on a scale of 0 (lowest) to 1 (highest), and Nigeria scored 0.319 points. Finland topped the list with 0.848 points ahead of Switzerland and Singapore. The only countries behind Nigeria are Zimbabwe and Venezuela, while Mauritius, with an Index score of 0.5670 and at number 38 on the log, is Africa’s best performer.”

I stated further that “when the 2020 Ibrahim Index of African Governance of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation was released to the public, Nigeria ranked 34 out of 54 countries. Precisely, the country scored 45.5 points out of 100, just as we declined by -1.6 in overall governance. On the 2020 Legatum Prosperity Index, Nigeria ranked 144th out of the 167 countries surveyed. Since 2010, the country has moved down the rankings table by three places. When the Germany-based Transparency International released its 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index on January 28, 2021, it ranked Nigeria 149 out of 180 countries surveyed. TI said Nigeria scored 25/100, which is one point less than its 26 points in the previous year, a record that is three steps lower than its rank of 146 in 2019.” Was Twitter responsible for these poor governance ratings?

There is no gainsaying that the Federal Government has been peeved by the position of the Chief Executive Officer of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, who not only retweeted many tweets by the organisers of the #EndSARS protests last October but also mobilised financial support for the arrowheads of the protests. Not only that, when on Monday, April 19, 2021 Twitter Incorporated announced the citing of its African office in Ghana, the Nigerian government was further irked by that decision which it blamed on the Nigerian media’s “misrepresentation” of the country. This has to be said so that readers will know that there was a build-up to the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria last Friday.

I believe the spat with Twitter over the deletion of the President’s tweet is a needless distraction because it is an issue that could have been resolved diplomatically with the presidency writing formally to protest the deletion of the tweet. Aside from that, the President has a right to deactivate his Twitter account and those of his officials including the Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies if he felt slighted by the microblogging site. However, to suspend the operations of the media platform indefinitely is an overkill. The President overreached himself with that ignominious act.

In order to rub salt on a festering sore, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, also threatened to arrest and prosecute anyone still using the Twitter while the National Broadcasting Commission issued a directive to all public and private broadcast organisations to deactivate their Twitter handles. This is preposterous! The Freedom of Expression is a fundamental right constitutionally guaranteed in Nigeria. Section 39 subsections 1 and 2 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is very clear on this. I admire the courage of the African Independent Television which has challenged the NBC on this directive. AIT in its flagship news at 8pm on Monday, June 7, 2021 threatened to go to court if the NBC should dare to enforce this directive which is ultra vires.

It remains to be seen if highly respected clerics like Pastor E.A. Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God and Pastor W.F. Kumuyi of the Deeper Christian Life Ministries as well as Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State and former Minister of Education and Solid Minerals, Oby Ezekwesili, who have openly defied this draconian order will be arrested and prosecuted by the government.  I am very proud of organisations like the Amnesty International, Centre for Information Technology and Development and Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Projects that have roundly condemned this draconian action by the Buhari rgime. SERAP has actually put out numbers to call in the event of being arrested for defying the obnoxious ban promising pro-bono legal services for the victims.

It is also heartwarming that the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom, European Union and Ireland have spoken out to condemn the suspension of Twitter. For instance, in a press statement issued over the weekend, the U.S. Mission in Nigeria said that the country’s constitution provides for freedom of expression. “The Government’s recent #Twitterban undermines Nigerians’ ability to exercise this fundamental freedom and sends a poor message to its citizens, investors and businesses. Banning the social media and curbing every citizen’s ability to seek, receive, and impart information undermines fundamental freedoms,” it said in a statement.

The indefinite suspension has made Nigeria to be in company with authoritarian regimes in countries like China, North Korea, Iran, Turkmenistan, Pakistan, Egypt, Uganda and Turkey. According to Forbes, a surprising and interesting fact is that “many governments with Twitter bans still use the social media platform, often to disseminate information to foreign audiences. Chinese diplomats and staffers regularly use Twitter to lash out at the country’s critics, Iran’s president and foreign minister are both active on the site, and Nigeria announced its decision to ban Twitter via tweet.”

#Twitterban signposts the shrinking civic space in Nigeria and the citizens must be vigilant to the creeping attempt by the government to shut out voices of dissension. In the last few years, futile attempts had been made by some members of the House of Representatives to sponsor private member bills to regulate the social media under the guise that the platforms are being used to peddle fake news, hate speech and disinformation. However, much as I agree that there are abuses of the social media platforms, there are already laws on libel, sedition and cybersecurity which can sufficiently be used to deal with these abuses.

It is in the best interest of the Federal Government to lift the suspension order on Twitter, which is a communication tool not only for the country’s youths but also a trading and money-making platform which people use to advertise and market their products and services. Quartz Africa, an online newspaper in its edition of Monday, June 7, 2021, reported that “NetBlocks, which tracks Internet governance, estimated that each day of the Twitter shutdown will cost the Nigerian economy over N2bn ($6 million). Digital media are essential for information exchange, marketing, customer service, and remote work, especially during public health and safety emergencies. Shutdowns can slow commerce, cut productivity and ultimately cost jobs.”

Is this how Nigeria wants to expand the digital economy, promote human right, and attract foreign direct investment? Does the deletion of just one tweet of the President warrant a nationwide suspension of Twitter in Nigeria? Is this a national priority when the country is largely unsafe and southwards in all development indices? Facebook has promised to open its second Africa office after that of South Africa in Lagos this year. This high level of intolerance by Nigerian leaders can make Facebook Incorporated to have a rethink. It is not too late for Buhari to lift the suspension.