Ban: ‘This Is The Language They Understand’, Bashir Ahmad Mocks Nigerian Twitter Users

Bashir Ahmad, a Personal Assistant to the President on New Media, has ridiculed Nigerian users of Twitter over the ban of the microblogging platform in the country.

Ahmad took to his Facebook page to poke fun at Twitter users, saying: “The is exactly the language they clearly understand.”

The post attracted hundreds of comments in less than an hour, with many Nigerians lambasting Ahmad and his principal for what they described as “undemocratic practices”.

Ahmad’s post was a direct reference to an earlier controversial civil war post by his principal.

“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,” Buhari had said and tweeted while condemning attacks on police stations, prisons and offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission, especially in the South-East.

However, it was the deletion of the tweet that prompted the Federal Government on Friday to announce a ban on Twitter, two days after the microblogging site said it “violated the Twitter rules”.

According to a statement by Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture on Friday, the ban was placed on Twitter due to the “persistent use” of the platform in purportedly encouraging activities that “undermines Nigeria’s corporate existence”.

There had been a torrent of criticisms of the Federal Government over its decision on Twitter just before the platform was shut, with many Nigerians accusing the Federal Government of displaying dictatorial tendencies.

The international community has also weighed in with the United Kingdom, Sweden and Canada all saying that Nigerians have the constitutional right to freely express themselves on Twitter.