Online publishers berate Buhari, protest suspension of  Twitter setback for businesses

The Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) on Monday berated President Muhammadu Buhari over the ban of Twitter operations in Nigeria. The Guild in a statement by the President, Dotun Oladipo, and General Secretary, Danlami Nmodu, on Monday demanded the President to reverse the indefinite suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria.

GOCOP argued that the suspension of Twitter is a major setback for online publishing and other businesses which rely on the social media platform for mass circulation and marketing of their businesses.

GOCOP in the statement protested: “We believe this suspension will ruin our businesses and shrink the democratic space.

“Even more, this action will leave many social media handlers who work full time doing legitimate businesses jobless. This will compound the already troubling unemployment situation in the country.

“We believe this action is more injurious to the survival of Nigerian young business entrepreneurs who rely on Twitter.”

The Guild also noted that government’s ban on Twitter is a major setback for information dissemination, growth of the media, information technology sectors, among others, in Nigeria.

“We note that there are also millions of Nigerians who use Twitter to ventilate their democratic right of freedom of expression responsibly. The suspension clearly shrinks the democratic space,” the Guild stated.

GOCOP reiterated: “Once again, we call on government to lift the order suspending Twitter in Nigeria immediately.”