The Economic Consequence of the Nigerian Twitter Ban

Words Vanessa Osinlaru

Nigeria is the most populous African country and has the biggest economy in the continent. The indefinite ban of Twitter in the country was announced officially by the Nigerian government last week.

President Muhammad Buhari, previously a military leader and politician who served as Nigeria’s head of state from 1984–85 posted a tweet that was later taken down by the social media platform resulting in the ban of the leading social media giant and a negative response from Nigerian citizens and viewers across the globe who criticised President Buhari’s cabinets decision. 

The Twitter ban hasn’t had a significant effect on the majority of Nigerians simply because many citizens downloaded Virtual Private Network (VPN) which gives users access to Twitter despite the governments effort to block it through network providers, however businesses and citizens afraid of receiving scrutiny from authorities and have stopped actively using the app which will leave Nigeria facing serious economic consequences. 

Industries currently showing significant growth opportunities in Nigeria include consumer goods, retail, e-commerce, real estate due to the high growing population, urban migration, information, communication technology, agriculture and infrastructure. The industries and the Nigerians working to keep them running use social media platforms to support their daily work. Social media give users immediate interaction. With a strong social media strategy, businesses have the ability to create engaging content and hard working marketers can engage their audience. 

Majority of entrepreneurial coaches giving advice today would say a business not using social media to improve their services probably isn’t a business at all. 

Twitter is a tool used by many Nigerians to improve their personal, business and professional lives. 67% of Nigeria’s population is under 24 years old. Twitter is perfect for e-commerce stores that want to improve the visibility of their products. The microblogging site  allows users to follow the work of other experts in their field, build relationships across the world and keep up-to-date with the latest news, developments and also allows users to share information with others instantly. 

It is a well known fact that globalisation increases improves countries. Twitter is a significant tool for globalisation in Nigeria and the country should be ready to face the consequences of detaching themselves from a platform most countries are still using to remain globalised. The NetBlocks.org, launched in 2017 that monitors cybersecurity and the governance of the Internet. The Nigerian government’s Twitter ban has already cost the country £25 million (N13 Billion) since the ban came into effect six days ago.

Twitter, founded and launched in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey has 300 million monthly active users. Buhari’s cabinet argue that Twitter is undermining “Nigeria’s corporate existence" and believe the removal of the app will be best for Nigeria and it’s foreign investors. Nigeria has amazing resources, most of which are yet to be fully exploited which gives Nigeria great investment opportunities. Many people are apprehensive that the  Nigerian government has failed to consider the positive impact Twitter has on the livelihood of the large youth population and the effect not having access to it will have on the economy. 

 Nigerian youth unemployment currently stands at 35% and will only rise with the new Twitter ban. The social platform is a great way for Nigerian employers to attract active candidates looking for employment and is also used by users  to share opportunities amongst themselves. 

Nigeria isn’t the only country battling with the democratisation of information. Fake news is a universal issue. A issue the world will most likely always have. Most democratic countries have been able to manage the situation using constructive engagement as opposed to banning platforms completely and making all citizens face the punishment of a few. 

Twitter plays a huge role in the Nigerian economy. Did you know that  60% of our economy comes from the consumer universally? What would happen if the British government issued a Twitter Ban? Just think about the amount of business sales that would fall and all the interaction, culture, trends and opportunity millions of people would miss out on. Overall, the Twitter ban in Nigeria has already started to have a negative effect on the economy and may continue too until the government officially changes their decision.