Soyinka Reacts to Twitter Ban, Tells Buhari How He Should Have Dealt With Social Media Giant
- The federal government's decision to ban the activities of Twitter in Nigeria has been greeted by harsh criticisms
- Wole Soyinka said President Buhari should have sorted out whatever issues he has with Twitter personally instead of roping in all Nigerians
- Amnesty International told the government to have a rethink and reverse the ban which it said undermines Nigerians' human rights
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Professor Wole Soyinka has joined the growing number of Nigerians who have spoken out against the ban placed on Twitter by the federal government.
The Nobel Laureate said the action did not come as a surprise to him, adding that the move is “unbecoming of a democratically elected president”.
Source: Getty Images
According to him, if President Muhammadu Buhari has a problem with the social media giant, he ought to find ways of sorting it out privately and not infringe on people's right to free expression as collateral damage, Channels TV reports.
He stated:
"In any case, this is a technical problem Nigerians should be able to work their way around. The field of free expression remains wide open, free of any dictatorial spasms!"
Reverse the suspension
Also reacting to the suspension, Amnesty International on its Twitter page faulted the decision of the Nigerian government.
It said the action of the federal government did not follow Nigeria's international obligations.
The group also urged the authorities to immediately reverse the suspension which it described as unlawful.
How it all started
Legit.ng reported how the Nigerian government announced on the evening of Friday, June 4, that it had suspended the activities of Twitter in the country indefinitely.
This was after a controversial post of President Buhari on Twitter was deleted by the bird app.
Following the deletion, the Nigerian government accused Twitter of pursuing a sinister agenda in the West African country and by Friday, took a decision to ban it.
Outrage greets decision
Following the ban, Nigerians took to social media to express their frustrations, with many lambasting the government for making such a decision.
@Biraphil commented:
"This is the same Twitter you all cried when they set up their headquarters in Ghana instead of Nigeria. The government would've locked their headquarters up for hate speech by now."
@Omojuwa also wrote:
"If Twitter weren’t certain about their choice of Ghana over Nigeria, the latest joke of a Twitter operational ban - see last tweet - is more than enough justification. This is 2021, but you could have sworn we were back in 1998."
Source: Legit.ng
