The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has accused Twitter of being unfair and playing double standards on issues concerning Nigeria’s domestic issues.
In reacting to questions over the reported deletion of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweets reminiscing Nigerians’ experiences during the civil and warning to armed secessionists in the Southeast region of the country on Tuesday, said Twitter had not been fair to Nigeria.
Recall that President in series of tweets on Tuesday, via his verified Twitter handle, @MBuhari, had tweeted “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.”
Twitter, however, deleted the tweet, stating, “this Tweet violated the Twitter Rules”.
Reacting to Twitter’s action, Mohammed said “Twitter may have its own rules; it’s not the universal rule. If Mr. President, anywhere in the world feels very bad and concern about a situation, he is free to express such views. Now, we should stop comparing apples with oranges. If an organisation is proscribed, it is different from any other which is not proscribed.
“Also, an organisation that gives directives to its members, to attack police stations, to kill policemen, to attack correctional centres, to kill warders had been doing so, and you are now saying that Mr. President does not have the right to express his dismay and anger about that? We are the ones guilty of double standards.
“I don’t see anywhere in the world where an organisation or a person will stay somewhere outside Nigeria, and will direct its members to attack the symbols of authority, the police, the military, especially when that organisation has been proscribed. By whatever name, you can’t justify giving orders to kill policemen or to kill anybody you do not agree with,” he said.
