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ECOWAS Court Declares Nigerian Twitter Ban As Unlawful

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A court of the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) has disclosed that the ban on Twitter in Nigeria by President Muhammadu Buhari was unlawful.

The court therefore ordered President Muhammadu Buhari never to repeat such an unlawful act again. The Twitter ban which lasted for 222 days, had a negative impact on the Nigerian economy with economic losses of about N546.5 billion, before the Nigerian government finally decided to lift the ban.

Recall that the federal government announced the suspension of Twitter operations in Nigeria after the micro-blogging platform deleted a tweet made by President Buhari which violated the company’s abusive policy.

The tweet made reference to the 1967 civil war experience, where millions of people from the southeast were killed by the Nigerian government.

The President wrote via a tweet, “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 a language they understand”.

This tweet was however deleted by Twitter which further infuriated the federal government of Nigeria to ban the platform from operating in the country.

In the recent judgment delivered by the ECOWAS court, it disclosed that President Buhari’s act of suspending the operation of Twitter in Nigeria was unlawful and inconsistent with the provisions of Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and people’s right and Article 19 of the International Covenant on civil and political rights both of which Nigeria is a state party.

The court further ordered the Buhari administration to take necessary steps to align its policies and other measures to give effect to the rights and freedoms, and also to guarantee a non-repetition of the unlawful ban of Twitter.

The court, therefore, ordered the Buhari administration to bear the costs of the proceedings and directed the deputy Chief Registrar to assess the cost accordingly

Recall that when Twitter was banned in Nigeria, the Buhari-led administration stated that the order for the ban of Twitter was necessitated because the platform became a force for negative tendencies in Nigeria.

However, such action from the Nigerian government was followed by widespread criticism from across the globe from different leaders and activists, stating that the government violated the fundamental human rights of Nigerian citizens.

Nigeria is known to practice a democratic system of government, where freedom of expression is a fundamental human right of the people which is a cornerstone of democracy.

Therefore banning Twitter was a breach of the right of Nigerian citizens which goes contrary to its law.

With the latest judgment passed by the ECOWAS court, it disclosed that other heads of state and governments who are members of the Economic Community of West African State, should from henceforth respect and uphold the human rights of the community, to freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 9 of the African charter on human and people’s rights.

ECOWAS Court Rules Nigeria’s Twitter Ban Unlawful, SERAP Seeks Compensation

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ECOWAS Court on Thursday ruled the decision of the federal government of Nigeria, to ban Twitter illegal, ordering the government not to repeat such human rights violations.

The case was instituted by different civil liberties advocates, media rights practitioners and members of the public led by the Socio-economic Rights & Accountability Project (SERAP), following the ban on Twitter on June 4, 2021.

The federal government’s decision to ban Twitter came after the platform deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The tweet reads: “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.”

His reference to the Nigerian civil war, which claimed more than 2 million lives, mostly Igbos, and the threat to “treat them in the language they understand” provoked a global backlash. It was widely perceived as a threat to repeat the war actions against the Igbos.

Twitter deleted the tweet for violating its “abusive behavior” policy, and in retaliation, the Buhari administration announced the suspension of the social media app in Nigeria, though it claimed that the deletion of the president’s tweet was just part of the many reasons for the ban. The government claimed that Twitter had become a platform for many injurious things that can no longer be tolerated. Referencing the End SARS protest, the government claimed the continuous uncontrolled use of Twitter may undermine Nigeria’s corporate existence.

The ban, which received global condemnation, lasted four months before it was lifted. The government claimed that Twitter had agreed to its terms and conditions which includes registering with Nigeria’s Corporate Affairs Commission, opening an office in Nigeria, paying taxes and policing people’s contents on the platform among others that are yet to materialize.

But the lawsuit, which was instituted on behalf of the group by Mojirayo Ogunlana-Nkanga, an Abuja based legal practitioner, continued after the ban was lifted.

“Although we had expected this judgment a long time ago, we’ll still take it,” Ms Ogunlana-Nkanga said in a statement after the ruling. “Now we can have closure. It may not be the kind of justice we want but it’s still a valuable one for the protection of the freedom of expression and the civic space of the entire continent.”

Twitter has remained silent on the issue since the ban took effect.

Nigerians using Twitter for business lost billions of dollars as a result of the ban. Now SERAP is collecting signatures as it seeks compensation for the losses.

“Following the ECOWAS Court judgment today declaring Buhari’s Twitter ban, we’re preparing court papers to seek compensation for ALL victims of the ban,” it said.

How America Wins the World with Red (Republican) and Blue (Democratic) States Combo

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Comment (edited for clarity): Republican states with limited governments are better for America than Democratic ones which typically like to spend and spend.

My Response: You need both actually. More than 80% of the top 50 universities in America are in democratic cities. And more than 70% of America’s largest cities are democratic cities. The wealth of America is fueled by those universities and big cities.  While a Republican governor can use limited government to declare budget surplus or whatever, a democratic one will build more roads, rail tracks, etc. Wait for 10 years, more companies will migrate to those democratic states. 

There is a reason New York City, Boston, San Francisco, etc have more Fortune 500 companies than any Republican city.  America wins on the pillars built by Democratic cities and also wins on the pillars by Republican cities. Both bring everything and make it the best country in the world. Those have to be celebrated together.

Comment #1: Texas as a state outranks CA and NY. Moreover, the trend line has been in favor of TX for some time. I predict more will leave CA and NY in the coming decade, giving TX an even greater advantage.

Comment #2: While you point out historically true facts, it is no longer the case. Red states are running circles around blue states and have been for ten years now. Harvard and MIT are now competing with many southern universities for the best STEM minds in the world. Georgia Tech is a school you may want to take a look at.

My response to comments::

“Georgia Tech is a school you may want to take a look at.” – you are making my point. GATech is in Atlanta which is generally Democratic. While Georgia state is largely republican, its best university will likely be in a democratic base. Those bonds which many do not like are used to fund the future. In Texas state , a red state, without even checking, I will predict that its best (highest) ranked university will be in a democratic county/area, possibly Austin (University of Texas at Austin)

The interesting thing is that America the beautiful gets those two wins with the blue city feeding knowledge to the red areas which pursue their entrepreneurial capitalism. 

If you remove the policies of blue cities, what makes America great will disappear.  And if you mute the individual liberties of red cities, the can-do attitude which reminds Americans that dictionaries here have no “impossible” will go.

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RELAX – you are actually doing well. A Small fix, the next level will come.

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People – RELAX and take it easy. The world is not falling apart and I can assure you that you are doing well. I read lines like “my career is in a mess” from members these days. I have these words for you: do not be too hard on yourself. BELIEVE does not end when things are not working. The last I checked, PATIENCE has not been removed from the dictionary. Sure, things are hard in Nigeria but  if you look deeper, you are making progress.

To get to that next level you are dreaming, you must use the progress you have made ALREADY. Most times, our success was past tense and always forgotten because the next level has not come! Here in the Church in America, they celebrate secondary school graduates, congratulating them, for staying and graduating. Who does that in Nigeria? For us, finishing WAEC is nothing!

She made Second Class Lower (2.2) in college, and the god is now 2.2. For her, she has not achieved anything. Every move in her career is dictated by that 2.2. Unless you see that 2.2 as progress, that next level will not come. 

Build on the small wins you have made, and continue to push. Get into productive things and have a plan. And be OPEN to your future. To have that translation, you need a positive attitude and if you have that, more wins will come.

Do not write to me with “my career is in a mess”. No, your career is sending a new signal. Pay attention and update your playbook. The future is full of abundance and you have a portion in it. A strong personal economy is not just about working all the time; it requires a strategy to win and defend  the future (with grace of course). Relax, think over this thing they call a career. Your wins of today are pillars for the ones unborn. But those futures will come if you acknowledge that those are indeed wins.

Have #confidence and continue to push yourself to be better than “you of yesterday” with optimism and a plan, connecting with people, productively. Audition for that next level before men and women even when there is no available role.

Comment on LinkedIn Feed

Comment: If you believe that your career or life is stagnating, just replace whoever that is your grader or umpire, and you will see the progress you have made. You cannot be marking yourself down when the universe is in your favour.

High Temperature Crash of Bitcoin Burns Celsius which Files for bankruptcy

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The thermometer reading is showing a really high number in celsius, not fahrenheit. Yes, cryptocurrency giant, Celsius, has gone bankrupt. High frequency and flash temperature crash of Bitcoin is the reason: “the New Jersey-based firm had accumulated more than $20 billion in assets by offering depositors interest rates as high as 18%”. If you have that type of positioning, you will be off in principal and severely wounded in interest rate when the asset is crashing in days.

In banking, you are in a double whammy scenario and the outcome is always predictable: bankruptcy. The only pain is that a “decentralized world” of crypto believers  is coming back to a centralized system of bankruptcy. Why is that necessary? It comes down to one thing: every crypto derives its existence from a system, and that system is managed by a government. 

That is why no one has started a crypto company in my village, in Abia State, because jurisdictions matter for competitive advantages. If crypto is indeed wholly decentralized, the distribution of creators will be unbounded and unconstrained by geography. My point is this: stop the illusion that your coin is out of the reach of governments! Nothing like that.

Troubled cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a month after it froze more than a million customer accounts. Before halting withdrawals, the New Jersey-based firm had accumulated more than $20 billion in assets by offering depositors interest rates as high as 18%. Celsius is the latest casualty of a crypto crash that has wiped out $2 trillion in value. Crypto broker Voyager Digital filed for bankruptcy last week and major crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital sank into liquidation late last month. (LinkedIn News)