Nigerian Govt Announces Indefinite Suspension Of Twitter

Out of Touch Megalomaniac throws a massive tantrum

My country is trending and not for a good reason.

As a Nigerian, I find myself constantly balancing the tight rope of admiration for the tenacity and ingenuity of its citizens, yet harboring anger for the slow deterioration, pillaging, of a resource-rich nation, brought on by an unintelligent, low life genocidal megalomaniac ‘President’, whose stupidity would rival Trump.

Today, the cabinet of clowns, in their questionable wisdom decided to suspend Twitter indefinitely and get this, they tweeted this announcement…on Twitter.

Read that again.

The. Nigerian. Government. Announced. They. Are. Banning. Twitter. By Tweeting. It's tragic if not comical.

Want to know why they banned Twitter?

The gist

Because Mr. Dorsey saw fit to delete a tweet for breaching the site's rules on abusive behavior.

That tweet was about the 1967–1970 Nigerian civil war. In the tweet, the military ruler alluded to handling “those misbehaving today” in “the language they will understand.”

Given the terrible history of the civil war, Nigerians were naturally infuriated, banding together to flag the tweet as offensive. However, he and his cronies were unimpressed when Twitter deleted it.

Now my parents are from the South- Eastern and Southern parts of Nigeria.

They experienced the war and won't go into much detail about it. Who can blame them? The best I could get out of my mum was her remembering how she hid in a ditch whilst soldiers raided their home. So that tweet from the clown in charge made my blood boil. He can disrespectfully, fuck all the way off.

The Never-ending Prank

• Inflation Rate — 15.97%
• Unemployment Rate — 33%
• Nigeria’s debt — $111.54 Billion
• Insecurity in parts of the country

At this point, I believe the Nigerian people are being collectively pranked and as a Nigerian, the only thing to do is find yet another way to survive in this failing state.

The decision to indefinitely suspend Twitter comes after a myriad of bizarre decisions lead by an uncouth leader hell-bent on ignoring the abysmal state of the country.

Case in point, as of 2020, 40% of Nigerians live in poverty. It was also in 2020 that the #EndSars protest came to the fore.

This protest brought attention to the abuse that security forces exacted on everyday Nigerians just trying to do better for themselves. And what did the government do? They shot and killed innocent protesting civilians.

There is continuous and rising violence in northwest Nigeria’s Zamfara State. According to the UN’s migration agency, nearly 700,000 people have been internally displaced in Northwest and Northcentral Nigeria, including more than 124,000 in Zamfara alone.

Boko haram still runs rampant killing and kidnapping children and adults alike. As recently as a day ago, 136 students have been abducted from Nigerian schools.

But has the idiot said anything? No. Of course, banning Twitter is apparently more important than the safety and human rights of the people.

Oh, and don't get me started on the country’s GDP. It is on life support and honestly, how some Nigerians can afford everyday things, continues to speak of their determination to make the most out of a dire situation.

Much like the majority of modern society leveraging the use of social media to generate income, Nigerians use Twitter to promote their businesses, generate leads, generate email lists, newsletters, and much more. This calculated and insidious move by the government is a big blow to businesses' potential income stream.

Social Media Bill

There is a reason why the current regime is seeking to silence Twitter and social media outlets.

Like most dictatorships, social media, in the way of Twitter, has become a threat to their authority.

With social media, the #EndSars movement was brought to international audiences' attention. Because of this;

• Funds were raised to feed protesters and pay for hospital treatments and legal aid
• Logistics to and from protests were organized
• Real-time updates kept people aware of what was happening

After the Lekki tollgate massacre on 20th October 2020, the government launched a campaign to regulate social media, allowing law enforcement to shut down the internet at will.

If the internet providers do not comply, they will pay a fine or face a three-year jail term. On top of that additional fines will be implemented for making statements that “diminish confidence”.

This is highly problematic.

State of Affairs

Honestly, to be a Nigerian is to have some form of PTSD from mediocre and tyrannical leaders.

It's no wonder that most people are emigrating to places that considers that human rights and wellbeing. According to reports, between 2014 and 2018, Nigerians made 36%-52% of people emigrating, the highest from Africa.

However, given the continuous attempts by this government to silence the creativity of its citizens, good things continue to happen.

Case in point the fintech industry in Nigeria is gaining unprecedented traction. For instance, OPay, a mobile money platform in Lagos raised $120 Million, with plans to raise $400million in an attempt to expand beyond the borders. Nigeria’s Paystack (just like Stripe), another Fintech giant was acquired by Stripe for $200+Million.

In the murky waters of this regime, at least something good is happening.

This is how I am choosing to comfort myself on the heel of this news.

Conclusion

If you made it this far, thanks.

I don't know why I wrote this piece.

I suppose it's an attempt to purge out the endless bullshit I have to deal with as a Nigerian.

In the sea of rising hopelessness, Nigerians are somehow supposed to find ways to thrive and survive in a system that oppresses creative freedom, human rights whilst denying citizens their right to at least feel safe.

Oh well, if you see or know a Nigerian, give us a high five, we ain't doing so hot right now.