Ozekhome on Twitter ban: FG should dissolve Nigeria and select new citizens

Mike Ozekhome, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), says the federal government should not stop at just banning Twitter operations in Nigeria but “dissolve” citizens and get new people in their place.

On Friday, Lai Mohammed, minister of information, announced the indefinite suspension of Twitter, the social media service.

Twitter’s suspension by the federal government came two days after a post by President Muhammadu Buhari on the 1967 civil war was deleted by the microblogging platform.

In a statement on Friday, Ozekhome said he is not surprised by the government’s action because it “has a very thin skin for criticism”.

“Well, I am not surprised that the Federal Government has suspended Twitter operations in Nigeria. Are you? I have always said that this Government has a very thin skin for criticism. It is a government that cannot take punches, but delights in always giving punches to adversaries, real or imaginary,” the lawyer said.

“The government knows that Nigerians now express their resentment and protest through Twitter, by telling the whole world how Nigeria has been turned into a corruption haven, and a sprawling field of butchery, extra-judicial executions and slaughtering.

“Those in government do not want the world to hear about their atrocities. So, they just gleefully tell the world that they have suspended Twitter and that they would soon license other OTT and social media operations.

“These people in government know that Nigerians have been reaching out to the whole world, and they are very embarrassed that the breeze has been blowing, and the smelly backside of the fowl is always being opened for the whole world to see and smell its odorous side.

“This is the same government that undeservedly rode to power using the same Twitter and other social media platforms it now detests.

“My humble appeal to this Government is that it should go further than this. It should actually suspend or dissolve the Nigerian people which it has become so allergic to and no longer wants to see or hear about.

“Then, it can now go ahead to elect or select another people in place of the present Nigerians who appear to have become a nuisance to it.”

The lawyer said he is sad that the country is being led by a government “of one scandal per day”.