Three-month Twitter suspension: Nigeria loses N247.6bn

“The NetBlocks Cost of Shutdown Tool, the blockade costs Nigeria’s economy N103.17 million ($250,600) every hour.
So far, about 2,400 hours have been recorded since the ban clamped on Twitter”

More than a month after the information Minister Lai Mohammed gave a cast iron assurance of the resolution of the three- month ban of the social networking site, Twitter, in Nigeria, there has yet to be any positive development on the issue.

With the suspension extending to 100 days, Nigerians have reportedly lost N247.61billion.

Per Second News recalls that the Federal Government had on June 4, 2021 suspended Twitter after it deleted a tweet by the President Muhammadu Buhari, warning the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) that they “will be treated in the language they understand”.

On June 5, the Nigerian Communications Commission directed telecommunications companies to block access to Twitter.

Mohammed had hinted that the ban will be “lifted soon”, and in matters of days following an agreement the government had reached with Twitter in most areas of misunderstanding.

He explained the details of the conditions given to Twitter, saying that most of them have been accepted.

He said the areas still pending such as Twitter setting up an office and having a Twitter staff of management cadre that will serve as the country representative, “are still being discussed.”

On the economic implications of the three-month suspension, the NetBlocks Cost of Shutdown Tool, the blockade costs Nigeria’s economy N103.17 million ($250,600) every hour.

So far, about 2,400 hours have been recorded since the ban clamped on Twitter.

By the ban, Nigeria has joined the list of countries where Twitter is banned, they include China, Iran, and North Korea.

To access the social networking site, Nigerians have resorted to the use of Virtual Private Networks which has been on the rise.

A firm, ExpressVPN said that it recorded an increase of over 200 per cent in web traffic from Nigeria since the Federal Government banned microblogging site.