Yemi Solade, the veteran Nigerian actor, has backed the Presidency on the recent Twitter ban, describing the move as the “best decision the Presidency could have made”.
Solade, in an interview with GoldmyneTV, stated that the microblogging platform went too far by insulting the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and by extension, all Nigerians.
He said, “This is not the first time Twitter will try to humiliate Nigeria. It happened to Pastor Chris Oyakilhome some years back. I think the white supremacist and imperialist tendencies should be curbed sometimes.
“As much as I am of the opinion that everybody has a right to expression and thoughts, but when a platform is used to want to ferment trouble and project anarchy, there should be rules regulating such practices. In this case, a lot happens on Twitter.
“I am not really a Twitter fan; I do little on Twitter. I would want to align with that school of thought that says Twitter was not really helping. Nigeria has so many problems to contend with and Twitter was not really helping the country.”
According to Solade, most of the posts Twitter made were far too negative, especially hitting the government of Nigeria.
He noted that the decision, however, trampled on the fundamental human rights of Nigerians because most business people would miss the platform.
“I want to think in the larger space, it really trampled on the fundamental human rights of Nigerians. Because the President or the Presidency is aggrieved with Twitter, it does not mean that over 190 million Nigerians should queue behind the President,” Solade stated.
He continued, “I support my President this time around though. I am not trying to doublespeak, but I think it is a two-way thing. The best the Presidency could do has been done for now. We don’t know how long, but we hope the issue will be resolved and Twitter will begin to function in Nigeria.”
