Business
100 days after Twitter ban, Nigerian economy loses N247.8bn
Today, September 13, makes it 100 days since the federal government suspended the use of twitter in the country costing the Nigerian economy about N247.8 billion, so far.
On June 5, the Federal Government through the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) suspended Twitter few days after it deleted a post made by President Muhammadu Buhari, which was considered to be offensive to the Igbo tribe.
Since the ban, the Nigerian economy has lost N103.17 million ($250,600) every hour, according to NetBlocks Cost of Shutdown Tool.
It has been 2,400 hours since the FG banned Twitter which puts the total amount lost at N247.8billion ($601,439,044) using the exchange rate of N412/$.
Read also: How Twitter ban cost Nigerian economy N153.43bn in two months
In a bid to bypass the ban, the use of Virtual Private Networks has risen with many Nigerians almost forgetting that a restriction currently exists.
Recently, the Presidency through the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said it was close to an agreement with Twitter and would soon lift the ban.
A firm, ExpressVPN had said that it recorded an increase of over 200 percent in web traffic from Nigeria since the Federal Government banned twitter.
However, Nigeria is not the only country that has banned its citizens from accessing the microblogging platform; governments of China, Iran, and North Korea have also done so.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
German Police bust alleged Nigerian scam dating ring
German authorities have arrested eleven individuals suspected of being members of a Nigerian mafia group involved in a large-scale dating...
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...