June 15, 2021

NOI Polls estimates that 39.6 million Nigerians use Twitter – 20% of them for business advertisement and 18% to look for employment. Experts warn its lack of ready availability – it is accessible using Virtual Private Networks that mask location – could ripple across the economy

A good ten days after the June 5, 2021 ban on microblogging App, Twitter, by Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerians and businesses in the country have continued to groan for lack of patronage and shrinking of revenues.

On 5 June 2021, the Nigerian government officially placed an indefinite ban on Twitter after the social media platform deleted tweets made by President Buhari. The tweet was a stern warning to the south eastern people of Nigeria and tended to threaten them with war, a message Twitter considered to have violated its code on decorum, ethics and fairness.

The Nigerian government quickly moved and banned Twitter usage within the Nigerian territory. It’s been 10 days now and Nigerian business owners are reeling under the weight of the ban.

“It’s unfair to punish all of us with the ban. Some of us are apolitical in our posts. I am a business woman. I have a physical shop where I sell cosmetics but I use Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to advertise my products since I can’t afford radio or newspaper advert. This ban is affecting me, and not just me but other Nigerians like me,” gushed a shop owner in Surulere, Lagos identified as Mildred Okwuosi.

At Delta State University, Abraka campus, our reporter spoke to students who rely on social media platforms to enhance sales in what they called “side hustle”. Some of the respondents were students who make sales of fashion accessories and perfumery via social media to augment their pocket money.

“Please tell our President to unban what he banned. We are dying, our sales are going down. We are students who don’t want to go into the streets but want to help our parents with the little money they give us as pocket money,” a female student, Stephanie Ebinum, told our reporter.

Lagos-based entrepreneur Ogechi Egemonu was selling more than 500,000 naira ($1,219) worth of watches, shoes and handbags on Twitter per week.

Now, with the site suspended by the Nigerian government, Egemonu does not know how she will cope.

“Social media is where I eat,” she told Reuters. “I depend on social media for my livelihood.”

Scores of small and medium-sized businesses across Africa’s most populous nation – and largest economy – are reeling from the indefinite suspension of the social media site.

Nigeria announced the suspension on June 4, days after the platform removed a post from President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish regional separatists. Most telecommunications sites have since blocked access.

NOI Polls estimates that 39.6 million Nigerians use Twitter – 20% of them for business advertisement and 18% to look for employment. Experts warn its lack of ready availability – it is accessible using Virtual Private Networks that mask location – could ripple across the economy.

“The ban has significant collateral damage,” said Muda Yusuf, director general of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce, who said that a “sizeable number of citizens” use Twitter to make a living.

Parliament’s minority caucus warned the suspension was costing Nigerians “billions of naira on a daily basis.”

Dumebi Iyeke, a research analyst with the Financial Derivatives Company, said it would hit young Nigerians – among whom there is a 45% unemployment rate – the hardest.

“We are looking at a potential loss in their revenue,” Iyeke said, adding that it could further lower living standards amid high inflation.

Information Minister Lai Mohammed last week said that all social media sites must register a local entity and get a license to operate. He cited complaints over lost money as proof that the ban was effective, but said other sites are still available.

With additional reports from Reuters