Emma Okonji
Nigerians from all walks of life have continued to react against the action of the federal government for suspending Twitter operations in Nigeria.
They are worried about the huge revenue loss and as well as job loss that will come with suspension, since Nigerians buy data to access and post tweets on the Twitter platform.
They are also afraid that the revenue loss to government and individuals who rely on online businesses to make sales, may double, should Facebook, which also owns and operate WhatApp and Instagram, decides to disconnect self in Nigeria, in solidarity with Twitter.
The federal government, last Thursday, suspended the operations of Twitter in Nigeria. The suspension order was based on the action of Twitter, which deleted the tweet of President Muhammadu Buhari from the platform shortly after the president tweeted a post warning agitators from the South-east region.
Reacting to the action of Twitter, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the action was suspicious and undermined the authority of President Buhari.
Industry stakeholders have described the suspension as worrisome and needless.
According to them, the suspension means Nigeria and Nigerians would be partly disconnected from the rest of the world.
In line with the decision of the federal government to suspend Twitter operations in Nigeria, telecoms operators said they have been given instruction to disconnect Twitter and that they have done so in the interest of the country as directed by the federal government.
A statement released by the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) and signed by its Chairman, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, read: “We, The Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) wish to confirm that our members have received formal instructions from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the industry regulator to suspend access to Twitter. ALTON has conducted a robust assessment of the request in accordance with internationally accepted principles.
Based on national interest provisions in the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, and within the licence terms under which the industry operates; our members have acted in compliance with the directives of NCC, the industry regulator.
We will continue to engage all the relevant authorities and stakeholders and will act as may be further directed by the NCC. We remain committed to supporting the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and upholding the rights of citizens.
“As an industry, we endorse the position of the United Nations that the rights held by people offline must also be protected online. This includes respecting and protecting the rights of all people to communicate, to share information freely and responsibly, and to enjoy privacy and security regarding their data and their use of digital communications.”
Nigerians have been reacting since the suspension order and has warned the federal government not to extend the ban on Facebook, who also controls WhatsApp.
The Nigeria Coordinator, Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), Mr. Olusola Teniola, said the suspension would backfire badly on the federal government.”Just watch what will happen in the coming days,” Teniola said.
A telecoms expert, Kehinde Aluko, who frowned at the suspension order, said: “I don’t see how this will work. Twitter has no office in Nigeria, yet you are suspending it. Is it that they don’t know that it is a global village, and with VPN, people can remain connected? “
He described it as a disincentive to investments, adding that government would be hurting, especially small businesses that have one or two things they do via Twitter for their trades. “I hope this government is thinking,” he wondered.
Referring to a recent document released by the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), which discussed the issues with social media policy and regulation, ISPON President, Mr. Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu, the document was developed by the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President in collaboration with the ISPON. According to him, Nigeria has been navigating the digital transformation journey that all nations are undergoing with varying degrees of success.
In the document titled: ‘Framing a National Consensus on Social Media Management’, Mba-Uzoukwu, said as the industry association for policy formulation, advocacy and other matters related to the growth of the software sector as a key contributor to Nigeria’s GDP growth, the Institute has been concerned with the hard and soft infrastructure of the emerging digital economy as well as the policies that regulate and support software Nigeria and ISPON’s shared goal of building innovation as a national capability and driver.
Giving the implications of the action of the federal government on Twitter, the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), in a statement released yesterday, said ATCON was working closely with relevant stakeholders to ensure there is a speedy resolution of the current suspension of Twitter activities in Nigeria.
In its official statement on the development, which has seen the telecom regulator issued a directive to the service providers to deny access to the services of Twitter in Nigeria, the President of ATCON, Ikechukwu Nnamani, stated that while the association and its member companies understand the position of the federal government, the reasons for the directive, and have complied with the directive, it is pertinent that the issue is resolved soon in the interest of all.
Nnamani emphasised that the Over The Top (OTT) platforms of which Twitter is one, is an integral part of the digital economy that the federal government is promoting, adding so when an unfortunate disagreement arises with respect to the user policies, it is good it is resolved in a timely manner.
Other industry stakeholders, who frowned at the action of the federal government, wafted against the implication, which they said may affect Nigeria most negatively.
A user, Amefor Okonkwo, who expressed his frustration on the suspension, said: “They have just justified Twitter’s decision to set up its Africa office in Ghana, ahead of Nigeria. The federal government had blamed the media for making Twitter choose Ghana.”
Another Twitter user, Adekunle Omoniyi, said the suspension of Twitter would make Nigeria lose huge revenue that is accrued to data usage with Twitter. According to him, should Facebook be suspended just the way Twitter was suspended after being perceived by government to have committed the same offence, or should Facebook decide to disconnect self from Nigeria operations in solitarily with Twitter, then Nigeria will be in for it, because more revenue would be lost and more jobs would be lost.
A staff of one of the federal ministries, who defended the action of government over the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria, however, said the decision of government to suspend Twitter was in the best interest of Nigerians. Although he agreed that the suspension would lead to revenue loss by government and the telecoms operators, in terms of revenue generation and payment of taxes, he however said revenue generation could not be more important than protecting the authority of government in the interest of the general public.
“To be honest, government is not concerned about revenue loss. What government wants is for telecoms operators to comply with the directive just for the purpose of national interest. It is true that there will be loss of revenue and jobs because a lot of people use data for tweeting, and a lot of businesses depend on Twitter and other social media platforms. So with the Twitter services now suspended, definitely there will be decline in revenue generation, particularly for data application. But in the face of protecting government’s integrity, revenue generation becomes insignificant,” the staff said.
Other industry players who blamed the federal government for its action to ban the operations of Twitter in Nigeria, accused the federal government of high handedness in dealing with the issues that affect the general public.
They were of the view that the government action over Twitter ban could set the country backward, in an era where the world is driving technology innovation with emerging technologies. They accused government of inciting hate speech when it claims to be protecting the country against hate speech.
Giving reasons for joining Twitter in deleting President Buhari’s post from the Facebook’s platform, its spokesperson in a statement released on Friday, said: “In line with our global policies, we have removed a post from President Buhari’s Facebook page for violating our Community Standards against inciting violence. We remove any content, from individuals or organisations that violates our policies on Facebook.”
