The federal government of Nigeria lied about the agreement it supposedly had with microblogging app Twitter early in the year, according to documents found in Twitter files released by the company’s new owner and CEO Elon Musk.

In January, the Nigerian government lifted a seven-month ban it has placed on Twitter, saying it had reached an agreement with the social media platform to implement a new set of conditions that will ensure that what led to the Twitter ban does not happen again.

But the document contained in the released Twitter files said there was no such agreement and Twitter had upheld the government’s lie – created a room for stifling of free speech in Nigeria, by not refuting the false statement about the agreement.

“The Nigerian government blocked Twitter in June 2021, then falsely claimed to be in negotiations with Twitter executives; Twitter’s failure to correct the false record on many reported non-existent discussions with the Nigerian government permitted Nigeria to negotiate unilaterally through media and dictate unfavorable terms for final resolution,” stated the document.

“Twitter’s deliberate decision to refrain from correcting misinformation about Twitter’s proposed negotiations with the Nigerian government directly harmed Twitter shareholders, permitting the Nigerian government to impose various conditions on the platform harmed free expression rights and democratic accountability for Nigerian citizens,” the document added.

Twitter was banned after the social media platform removed a tweet made by President Muhammadu Buhari for violating its policy on violence. The tweet had threatened violence against the Igbo-dominated Southeast Nigeria, making reference to the country’s brutal civil war.

After the ban was announced in June 5 2021 by the Minister of Information, the Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami directed the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) “to swing into action and commence in earnest the process of prosecution of violators of the Federal Government De-activation of operations of Twitter in Nigeria.”

The ban, which was widely described as a brazen attempt to muzzle freedom of speech, drew condemnation from the international community. The Nigerian government said it had taken the step to prevent Twitter from being the source of the country’s implosion.

However, as the pressure to unban Twitter mounts on the government, Buhari’s administration came up with the idea of presenting lines of conditions to the social media company – a move believed it had initiated to save face.

“Following the suspension of Twitter operations, Twitter Inc. reached out to the Federal Government of Nigeria to resolve the impasse. Subsequently, I constituted a Presidential Committee to engage Twitter to explore the possibility of resolving the issue,” Buhari said in his 61^st Independence Day address.

He added that the Committee, along with its Technical Team, has engaged with Twitter and have addressed a number of key issues. These are:

1. National Security and Cohesion;
2. Registration, Physical presence and Representation;
3. Fair Taxation;
4. Dispute Resolution; and
5. Local Content.

Twitter neither refuted nor acknowledged any part of the said agreement, stirring skepticism that the parties had reached an agreement. After over one year, none of the issues highlighted by the president has been addressed by Twitter.

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In line with the ongoing quest for Africa to properly transition into the digital-data economy, the Federal government of Nigeria has flagged off the Digital Economy Employability Program (DEEP) targeted at empowering the Nigerian youths through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in partnership with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

NITDA whose strategic goal is to encourage the growth of digital skills, digital innovation, entrepreneurship and promotion of indigenous content in Nigeria will be facilitating the empowerment programme which will run concurrently in seven NYSC camps nationwide.

Mr Kashifu Inuwa, the Director General of NITDA, while declaring the programme open at the NYSC camp in Kubwa, Abuja on Saturday, December 10, has said the programme centred on improving the digital foot print of Nigeria by providing Nigerians with modern and relevant digital literacy and skills that would expose, prepare and connect them to in-demand career opportunities that are available in the global digital economy.

The DG declared the programme is expected to help create the opportunity for Nigerians to create job opportunities within the digital economy space which would ultimately help increase the contribution of ICT to the country’s GDP which currently stands at 18.44 percent, the Vanguard reported. Also mentioned by the DG is the multiplier effect the programme will have.

According to the Blueprint, the DG added that the initiative was part of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) 2020-2030 and expanded the mandate of the then ministry of Communications to Include Digital economy, under the leadership of Prof. Isa Ali Pantanmi which geared toward empowering young Nigerians with digital skills in order to be part of the fourth industrial revolution. Mr Kashifu made the following remarks:

‘’The implication of this projection is that many Nigerians, both in the IT and non IT space must acquire digital literacy and skills in order to thrive in this current fourth industrial revolution.

‘’Given our huge population of about 218 million and which about 50 percent is constituted by youth, we have enough potential human capital to drive the data economy, and that is why we have decided to flag off this programme in seven NYSC strategic camps.

‘’We believe that the NYSC camps holds the brightest and the most intelligent Nigerian youths. We believe that corps members will not only benefit from this programme but will create a multiplier effect by transferring the knowledge and skills during the course of this programme to other Nigerians and this will help the country realize its target of 95 percent digital literate Nigerians by 2030. There is no better time to embrace digital transformations than now.

‘’The world is moving away from natural resource-based economy to a digital and knowledge-base economy, more attention and efforts are being put into human capital and digital technologies and Nigeria should not be left out of this fast-moving train.’’