Nigeria to lift ban on Twitter as it agrees to set up office in country

… as Nigeria loses $366.9m (N150.47bn)

Nigerian government is set to lift the suspension of Twitter’s activities in the country as it says it has resolved some of the issues it raised with the social media platform.

The government had on June 4 announced the indefinite suspension of Twitter’s operation in Nigeria following the deleting of tweets made by President Muhammadu Buhari, who had threatened to treat members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the language they understand.

The suspension, has already cost the country a whopping sum.

Confiance News also gathered from a report by Quartz Africa that British firm Top10VPN estimates that the ban has affected around 104.4 million internet users in the country, and cost the country around $366.9 million

The federal government had however attributed the suspension to “the persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”.

Read also: Nigeria’s legislator, Gbajabiamila sneaks to Twitter Space room amid Twitter ban

While responding to questions on the issue on Wednesday, Lai Mohammed, the minister of information and culture, told state house correspondents that progress has been made in resolving the impasse following a series of meetings.

The minister said most of the conditions given to the platform have been accepted.

He said Twitter has also agreed to set up an office in Nigeria but the company maintained that the earliest it can happen is 2022.

The minister expressed confidence that everything will be ironed out with Twitter within a few days or weeks while acknowledging the anxiety that has been shown by Nigerians.

He said the federal government’s committee negotiating with Twitter will soon meet to make recommendations.

Cover photo: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey
(The Cable)