Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has urged the Federal Government to reverse the ban on Twitter in Nigeria as the popular microblogging and social media platform has become a source of livelihood for many, irrespective of their political affiliations or religious leanings. He also called the FG’s attention to how policies affect investor confidence.
Makinde disclosed this in a statement on Saturday morning, a few hours after the Twitter ban came into effect.
READ: Implications of the FG’s Twitter suspension on Nigerian users
What Makinde said
“As leaders, we should go beyond emotional reactions to issues and think about how our actions will affect the people we lead and our international ratings, socially and economically.
Twitter has become the platform for young people and indeed all Nigerians to exercise their fundamental right to express and publish an opinion. They use the platform to complain, argue and give feedback to government and its agencies who in turn, use these to improve policies. This is a fundamental point that should be kept in mind as we debate the necessity of this suspension.”
READ: Buhari’s deleted tweet: FG responds to Twitter
Makinde added that Twitter had gone beyond being a source of communication for many hardworking youths in Nigeria, as it was also a source of livelihood for many.
“Nigerian youths and digital communications organisations earn a living from being able to use the platform to post communications on behalf of their clients,” he said.
In case you missed it
Nairametrics reported yesterday that the federal government suspended indefinitely in Nigeria, the operations of Twitter, the microblogging and social networking platform.