CONDITIONS BEHIND TWITTER RESTORATION IN NIGERIA

The restoration of Twitter access in Nigeria came after the social media networking accepted the conditions handed to it by the Nigerian government which announced the lifting of the ban Wednesday evening.

One of the conditions reached by the parties is the empowerment of government officials to censor online ‘prohibited’ contents.

Another of the conditions is that Twitter agreed to set “a legal entity in Nigeria during the first quarter of 2022.” The establishment of Twitter’s legal entity, according to the statement, is the social media giant’s “first step in demonstrating its long-term commitment to Nigeria.”

In addition to setting up a local office or a legal entity in the country, the other unanswered requests were paying taxes locally and cooperating with the Nigerian government to regulate content and harmful tweets.

Twitter will also appoint a “designated country representative” to hold talks with the Nigerian government when required.

Twitter also agreed to comply with applicable tax obligations on its operations under Nigerian law. Twitter has agreed to enrol Nigeria in its Partner Support and Law Enforcement Portals,

It has also agreed to act with a respectful acknowledgement of Nigerian laws and the national culture and history on which such legislation has been built and work with the FGN and the broader industry to develop Code of Conduct in line with global best practices, applicable in almost all developed countries,

Twitter became inaccessible after the federal government alleged that subversive elements were using the platform to undermine the country’s sovereignty, a claim many Nigerians disputed, saying the deletion of President Muhammadu Buhari tweet deemed genocidal necessitated it.

Critics argue that the government was reacting to it bruised ego of the president which Twitter said violated its community standard. The international community also joined in condemning the ban, advising the government to backtrack, an advise the administration didn't listen to.

The ban lasted for almost a year, 222 days to be precise, few days above seven months but Nigerians are attributing the lifting to the closeness of the general election where politicians and political parties reach out to the people using the social media.

Presidential spokesmen and some government officials tweeted early Thursday morning describing the development as a victorious feat by the Buhari administration.