Connect with us

News

Nigerian Government Lifts Twitter Ban, Nigerians React!

After 7 months of suspended use, the Nigerian government on Wednesday the 12th of January announced that it had lifted the ban on the micro-blogging platform, Twitter effective from Thursday the 13th of January, 12 AM.

The government said that Twitter had agreed to all of her terms and conditions hence its decision to restore its activities in the country.

The head of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi broke the news in a statement saying;

“Twitter has agreed to act with a respectful acknowledgment of Nigerian laws and the national culture and history on which such legislation has been built and work with the FGN [federal government of Nigeria] and the broader industry to develop a code of conduct in line with global best practices, applicable in almost all developed countries.”

Among the list of the government’s demands, Twitter agreed to open a local office in the first quarter of 2022, get registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and comply with applicable tax obligations on its operations under Nigerian law, as well as appoint a designated country representative to interface with Nigerian authorities.

The government said that Twitter also agreed to give the government the right to take down any tweet it considers a threat to the nation’s peace and security.

Twitter responded to the suspension of the ban in a tweet promising its commitment to driving civic participation. The Twitter post read;

We are pleased that Twitter has been restored for everyone in Nigeria. Our mission in Nigeria and around the world is to serve the public conversation.

We are deeply committed to Nigeria, where Twitter is used by people for commerce, cultural engagement, and civic participation.

We’re committed to integrating diverse perspectives that make our service better for everyone.

The Nigerian government had placed a ban on the micro-blogging platform in June of 2021 after Twitter took down a tweet by the president issuing a violent threat to South-East secessionists following an attack on public property. The government said the ban was placed because of its “persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”.

Read Also: READ President Buhari’s Letter Refusing Assent to Electoral Act Amendment Bill

The ban was condemned by angered Nigerians as well as diplomats from the EU, UK, Ireland, Norway, and Canada who said the ban undermined the freedom of expression of citizens as well as sent a wrong message to investors. Consequently, the ban cost Nigerian businesses billions of naira.

Nigerians, including opposition politicians, continued to use the platform form, accessing it with the use of Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Following the lift of the ban, many Nigerians expressed relief, and in typical Nigerian style, with a dose of humor. Amid the relief and humor, Nigerians did not fail to recognize the obvious fact that the government’s decision to lift the ban was connected to the forthcoming elections. The current ruling APC harnessed the power of social media influence to install the current President, Muhammadu Buhari.

“With elections a little over a year away, the current ruling party, which ascended to the national stage largely on the back of a successful social media campaign, understands how vital Twitter remains as a public square for accessing, and more importantly, influencing the perspectives of Nigerians.cIt is in that sense that the Twitter ban must be assessed,” said Ikemesit Effiong head of research at SBM Intelligence, a political risk analysis firm in Lagos during an interview with Al Jazeera.

Here are some reactions on the Twitter ban

 

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Entertainment

Asake’s ‘Mr Money With the Vibe’ Is Charting Top 50 On Spotify

Three years after its release, Asake’s Mr Money With the Vibe is still doing numbers. At the time of press, the track ‘Nzaza’ currently ranks 23rd on Spotify Nigeria’s Top 50 songs, that’s 148 weeks and counting, nearly three years of nonstop streaming for a debut project.

For most artists, a first album fades after its moment. For Asake, it’s really that moment that refuses to fade.

Released September 8, 2022, through YBNL Nation and Empire, Mr Money With the Vibe arrived when the streets already knew Asake’s name. He had already spent months turning singles like Sungba into hits. This 12-track debut built on that momentum, and he managed to do even more.

The project blends Afrobeats, Amapiano, and Fuji influences, creating a sound that can be global yet deeply Nigerian. Songs like Joha, Terminator, and Organise became instant hits, setting the tone for Asake’s larger-than-life run that would define Afrobeats in the mid-2020s.

From its first day out, Mr Money With the Vibe shattered expectations and redefined what a Nigerian debut could do.

Apple Music Africa: The album broke records for the most first-day and most opening three-day streams ever by an African project.Apple Music Nigeria Top 100: For a brief, almost unbelievable stretch, every single track on the album occupied the first 12 spots on the chart. Global Reach: The project reached #1 on Apple Music Album Charts in 26 countries, including six across Europe.

Albums fade, trends change, and new stars rise every quarter. Yet Mr Money With the Vibe remains glued to the top. That consistency says something about both Asake and his audience. For one, the project captured a moment in time, the rise of a new street-pop generation that blurred the lines between amapiano and Yoruba-rooted rhythm. Every track carried Asake’s trademark vocals and a hypnotic tempo that became instantly recognizable across countries.

Continue Reading

News

Wizkid’s Son Enters the Spotlight with Debut EP ‘Champion’s Arrival’

Boluwatife Balogun, the 14-year-old son of Afrobeats titan Wizkid, has finally launched his own music career. Now known by the stage name “Champz”, the young star has just unveiled his first-ever project. The much-anticipated five-track EP, titled Champion’s Arrival, dropped on Tuesday, November 11, instantly sparking fresh buzz on the internet.

Champz himself took to his social media channels to confirm the news via a post that read: “11/11: The Champion has arrived. My debut EP ‘Champion’s Arrival’ is Out Now on all streaming platforms!”

The debut project serves nothing near his father’s iconic Afropop sound as Bolu’s sound is strictly a heavy dose of Rap, Afroswing, and Trap. Early snippets, which went viral weeks ago, showcased a lyrical flow and a smooth, polished composure that belies his tender age.

Fans can now stream the full project across all major digital platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Audiomack. Champz is signalling his readiness to step into the fiercely competitive Nigerian music scene. The game has a new player.

This is not merely a son following his father; it is a destiny playing out in real time.

Wizkid also began his journey at a tender age, starting in a church choir and later releasing his first collaborative album at just 11 years old under the name ‘Lil Prinz

Continue Reading

News

Incumbent Anambra Governor Charles Soludo Wins Anambra Election

Charles Soludo

Governor Chukwuma Soludo has secured a return to office after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared him the winner of the November 8, 2025, Anambra State governorship election. The results announced by the electoral umpire showed that the incumbent governor recorded a landslide victory, sweeping all the 21 local government areas of the South-East State. In the early hours of Sunday, November 9, the State Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, Professor Omoregie Edoba, declared Soludo the winner of the exercise after collating results from the state’s local government areas.

“I hereby declare that Soludo Chukwuma Charles of the APGA, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” Edoba said.

The final tally showed that the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate garnered 422,664 votes, pulverising his closest challenger, the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag-bearer, Nicholas Ukachukwu, who polled 99,445 votes.

Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) came a distant third with 37,753 votes, while John Nwosu of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) scored 8,208 votes.

Labour Party’s George Moghalu and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Jude Ezenwafor, scored 10,576 votes and 1,401 votes, respectively. Peter Obi, a former Governor of the State and Labour Party’s presidential candidate in 2023, couldn’t bring his popularity to bear in the election.

Obi, who had spearheaded Moghalu’s campaign, not only failed to secure a victory for his preferred candidate at his polling unit, but the Labour Party’s total votes of 10,576 also fell way short of expectations.

Results from Polling Unit 019, Umudimakasi, Amatutu village, where Obi voted, showed that the APC recorded 73 votes, defeating the Labour Party, which polled 57 votes.

Continue Reading

Trending