The federal government of Nigeria has given the condition for which it will restore the use of Twitter in Nigeria.
The minister of foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said at a meeting with foreign envoys that the suspension of Twitter’s operations in Nigeria will be lifted on the assurance that Nigerians will use the platform “responsibly”.
Asked when the ban will be lifted, Onyeama said there is no definite timeline for that, but added: “The condition would be responsible use of the social media and that really has to be it.”
He said:
“We are not saying that Twitter is threatening the country or any such thing; why we have taken this measure is to stop them to be used as platforms for destabilization and facilitation of criminality or encouragement of criminalities.”
Present at the meeting held in Abuja on Monday, June 7, were the envoys of the US, UK, Canada and the European Union, all of whom had condemned Nigeria’s decision to suspend Twitter.
Minister Onyeama added at the meeting:
“We want to use social media for good. Differences of opinion is not a problem; everybody will not think alike. But lives matter; Nigerian lives matter and we have to do everything we can to preserve Nigerian lives. And when we feel our goals are threatened, actions need to be taken.”
