Reno Omokri, a former presidential advisor, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration against banning Facebook in Nigeria.
On Tuesday in Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, met with a team from Facebook, according to Naija02.
Mohammed requested that the social media platform restrict the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) from promoting ethnic hate and violence on the site during the meeting.
According to the minister, Facebook has no reason to enable the proscribed organization to use its platform to destabilize the nation by spreading hatred and instigating violence.
According to Mohammed, the government’s desire to control social media is not an effort to restrict the press or curtail press freedom.
In response to the news, Omokri encouraged the Buhari administration not to try to ban social media sites because Nigerians would use VPNs to circumvent the ban.
According to the former presidential assistant, the government would lose billions in income, just as it did under the last Twitter ban.
In a tweet via his Twitter handle on Thursday, Omokri said:
“It will be foolhardy for the Buhari junta to attempt banning Facebook. Nigerians will just bypass that ban via VPNs.
“We will lose billions in revenue at a time the Naira is trading at ₦600 to $1. Plus, elections are near. A lot of campaigning is done on FB. Think!”
It will be foolhardy for the Buhari junta to attempt banning Facebook. Nigerians will just bypass that ban via VPNs. We will lose billions in revenue at a time the Naira is trading at ₦600 to $1. Plus, elections are near. A lot of campaigning is done on FB. Think!#TableShaker
— Reno Omokri (@renoomokri) May 18, 2022
Following the news, rumors circulated that the federal government was considering banning Facebook and other social media sites.
On Wednesday, however, the Information Minister said that the government had no plans to prohibit Facebook or any other social media network.
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