Over time, President Muhammadu Buhari has proved to Nigerians that he does not just rule with a high dose of mediocrity, but does not understand the gravitas and importance of national issues, thereby leading him to doing the wrong things at the wrong time, or not doing anything at all.
Such crappy leadership has become his signature moves. He did it during his malevolent rule as the Military Head of State between 1983 and 1985; and till today, his mediocrity reigns supreme. The current Twitter ban exemplifies the President’s misplacement of priorities.
On Saturday, June 5, 2021, the Buhari-led government put an indefinite ban on Twitter after the social media platform deleted tweets made by President Buhari where he warned the Igbo people of a reoccurrence of the 1967 Biafran if the spate of violence and insecurity ravaging the South-Eastern Nigeria, a geo-political zone mostly populated by the Igbo, is not terminated.
Buhari held the the recently arrested Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, as responsible for the senseless violence in the region.
Unfortunately, the Twitter ban is a wrong decision taken at the worst possible time in our nation’s history. Twitter has more benefits to Nigerians than disadvantages, and now the Nigerian government has begun to experience the negative effects of this ban.
To start with, Twitter is a significant booster to the Nigerian economy as millions of Nigerians gain income through it. Many Nigerians who have businesses that offer catering services, car sales, cloth sales, etc., have been hit hard by the ban, as the platform is where they meet their customers with ease.
Fintech companies such as Piggyvest and Interswitch, which use Twitter to communicate to customers, are at a big loss. There is also a popular trend in Nigeria where popular Twitter users, called “influencers” are paid by brands to promote their goods and services and earn a decent living.
Currently, some of them can now be categorised as jobless. All these will lead to increase in the already high unemployment rate and choking inflation in the country.
Netblocks, an online service that tracks Internet governance estimated that Nigeria lost N2 billion (Naira) in the first 24 hours of the ban, and the country continues to lose $250,000 every hour since the start of the ban. These are bad numbers and unhealthy for a struggling economy like ours.
Hence, it is advisable that government should jettison its pride and lift the ban as soon as possible, if the economic activities are to get better in the interest of all and sundry. Apart from being an economic driver of a sort, Twitter also has a sentimental value.
It is like utopia to some Nigerians, as the microblogging site is a place where people who have been cheated by the system can laugh and forget about their woes by simply reading a few funny tweets. It is where football fans can have the biggest laughs by bantering with one another.
Let’s even imagine for a minute that Twitter is harmful to Nigerians. Are there not more important national issues and challenges that need this level of energy and focus by the government? Unemployment, exchange rate, inflation, and the rising debt size are far more paramount issues to tackle than looking for a way to settle the rift between the President and Twitter. This is not to mention the intractable security challenges of kidnapping and armed banditry.
Now let’s take a look at the comparison of the handling of issues when President Goodluck Jonathan left power and how they are now. Unemployment rate in the previous government was 8.2%, now it is 33%, the Dollar to Naira rate was at 198, now it is over 450. Price of petrol was 87 naira, now it is 162 Naira.
The worst of all is the inflation rate has risen by almost 10℅ since the last administration left power. To put the icing on this very depressing looking cake, according to Nigeria’s Debt Management Office, DMO, her public debt sits at over $86 billion.
It is also interesting to know that not enough efforts have been made to make those issues become things of the past. However, when it comes to banning Twitter, the Buhari-led government can boast of having more work rate than French Footballer, Ngolo Kante. The ironic thing is that the President has not still placed a ban on the open grazing of cows, even though it has led to the deaths of many Nigerians, WHAT A CARING PRESIDENT!
The current Twitter ban and the Decree 4 of 1984, which was enacted by Buhari and is considered as one of the most repressive laws in Nigeria’s history, have confirmed three things. Firstly, Buhari is the same yesterday, today and forever. Secondly, a former Head of State should not be allowed to rule Nigeria as they are averse to freedom. Thirdly, this administration is very hypocritical as the same Twitter that served as a massive tool for it in both of its triumphs in the last presidential elections has become a tool to be banned.
Conclusively, I hope that the ban is lifted, but I must still stress that President Buhari should have never been voted into power, as his military background and history of tyranny in office could not be wished away so easily.
I urge Nigerians to continue to find legal means of voicing out their complaints so that the government can work on them. We also need to persevere as these are the last two years of this administration and hopefully, they are better than the previous six.
Most importantly, we must critically analyse future presidential candidates so that we would not make the mistake of voting for a President who lacks articulation, and is described by the vast majority as “lifeless”.
