Nigeria’s government is suspending Twitter operations in the country “indefinitely”, the country’s information minister has said.
Lai Mohammed said the ban was due to “the persistent use of the platform for activities… capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”.
It comes just days after a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari was removed for breaching the site’s rules.
No reference was made to the social media giant’s decision.
The site – which was still available to users in Nigeria following Friday’s announcement – removed a tweet sent by the president on 1 June.
It referred to the 1967-70 Nigerian Civil War and to treating “those misbehaving today” in “the language they will understand”.
A Twitter spokesperson said the post “was in violation of the Twitter Rules. The account owner will be required to delete the violative Tweet and spend 12 hours with their account in read-only mode”. The statement gave no further details.
Nigeria wants to be called United African Republic
The answer is keeping many Nigerians awake as they chew over a proposal to change the name of the country.
For two weeks, federal lawmakers have been traversing the country collating citizens’ views to amend the constitution.
The idea was to gather suggestions for amendments such as electoral reforms and the system of government.
But citizen Adeleye Jokotoye, a tax consultant, dropped something of a bombshell at the hearing in Lagos.
He wants the name of the country changed as it was an imposition by Nigeria’s past colonial masters.
The name Nigeria was suggested in the late 19th Century by British journalist Flora Shaw, who would later marry the British colonial administrator Lord Frederick Lugard.
It is derived from the River Niger which enters the country from the north-west and flows down to the Niger Delta where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean through its many tributaries.
But Mr Jokotoye wants the name changed and his choice of United African Republic – to reflect the hundreds of ethnic groups that comprise the country – has blown a storm.
