Nigerian celebrities react to Twitter ban lift

On Wednesday, January 12, the Nigerian federal government announced the lifting of the ban placed on the microblogging site, Twitter.

The announcement is coming 222 days after President Muhammadu Buhari disapproved of the social media platform. Despite the ban, the majority of Nigerians continued to engage with the platform using the Virtual Private Network (VPN) to bypass the restriction.

Following the announcement on Wednesday evening, the majority of passive Twitter users who had been away since June 5, 2021 did not immediately gain access on the platform until the early hours of today, Thursday, January 13.

Twitter, a platform established by Jack Dorsey in 2006 has been identified by netizens as the most liberal social media sphere to air one’s opinion, belief and personal ideology without boundaries.

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In December 2019 when Twitter co-founder and former CEO, Jack Dorsey visited Nigeria, he explained that the ‘Giant of Africa’ is one of the biggest consumer of the microblogging site and social network in the world.

According to the media platform, Africa Check, Twitter is ranked as the country’s sixth most-used platform behind WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger.

Also, there are about 3.05 million Twitter users in Nigeria alone. As the saying goes,’the more, the merrier…’ hence, it’s a win for the government’s strategic agenda towards the coming election in 2023.

Also, the lift means everyone is allowed to be expressive once again.

This explains why the excitement among Nigerian youths is insurmountable as alot of Twitter influencers, business owners, media strategists, content creators and other social media savvy individuals are back disseminating to their ideal audience.

Creatives in the entertainment industry understand that the latest announcement means that they will be able to reach a broader audience. For the first time in seven months, celebrities can address their fellow citizens and fans without feeling guilty for making use of VPN.

The full squad is back. Fans of Wizkid FC, 30 Billion Crew (fans of Davido), the Outsiders (fans of Burna Boy) alongside other fans are back to engage in the usual Twitter wars. The entire cruise crew is back on the boat.

In the meantime, Ripples Nigeria has gathered a cross-section of comments on the issue from Nigerian celebrities, socialites, social media influencers and other notable individuals in the country.

Read the comments below.

Oh Oh… e don tire una?
Welcome back ooo.
You people banned yourselves not twitter. Na una go!! We never left.

— DeboMacaroni (@mrmacaronii) January 13, 2022

The Federal Government should just say they have decided to come back to Twitter instead of claiming to lift the ban.

— Frank Edoho (@frankedoho) January 12, 2022

TWITTER NG mood when #TwitterBan has been lifted after using different VPNs pic.twitter.com/Gac6bShNMj

— Mr Funny (@mrfunny____) January 13, 2022

Twitter NG back. Avoid Toxicity. No negative engagement. Positive vibes only. #TwitterBan

— Bello Shagari (@Belshagy) January 13, 2022

To those that left twitter after the suspension, welcome back oooo

— Pamilerin Adegoke (@UnclePamilerin) January 13, 2022

We are back! To help people make healthier choices.😀

— WHO Nigeria (@WHONigeria) January 13, 2022

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