Abuja-Nigeria said on Wednesday that it expects to end the ban on Twitter in “a few days”, which gives users who are eager to return to the social media platform three months after the suspension takes effect.
The ban announced in June has harmed Nigerian businesses and has been widely condemned for its devastating impact on the freedom of speech and the ease of doing business in Africa’s most populous country.
However, Information Minister Lai Muhammad told the cabinet after a media briefing that the government is aware of the anxiety caused by the ban among Nigerians.
“If the operation has been suspended for about 100 days now, I can tell you that we are actually only talking about a few days, and now it is only a few days,” Mohammed said, but did not give a time frame.
When being further questioned, Mohammed said that the authorities and Twitter officials must “add I and cross T” before reaching a final agreement.
“It will be very, very fast, trust me,” he said.
The government suspended Twitter after deleting a post by President Muhammadu Buhari threatening to punish regional separatists.
This is the result of months of tension. Last October, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s post encouraged donations to anti-police brutality protests, and the Biafra separatist leader Namdi Kanu who is currently on trial in Abuja (Nnamdi Kanu)’s Twitter post angered the authorities.
Last month, Mohammed told Reuters that the Twitter ban would be lifted by the end of this year, adding that the government is awaiting a response to three final requests made by social media platforms.
The ban is only one area of concern for free speech advocates. In the 2021 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders, Nigeria dropped 5 places to 120. The index described Nigeria as one of the most dangerous and difficult West African countries for journalists.
Felix Onua
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This News Originally From – The Epoch Times
