Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, announced the indefinite suspension of Twitter in the country on June 4th, 2021 and few weeks after this ban, the cost implication to brands, Influencers and the Nigerian economy has been massive!
We can’t assume that the FG is unawares of this huge loss of jobs and income to it’s citizens. It’s either the reason for the ban is more important or they simply don’t care to know the cost implications of the ban.
Either way, the loss of this ban to young people and the Nigerian economy is a lot and considering the unemployment rate in the country currently and the several challenges businesses are facing, makes it even worse.
INFLUENCERS
A lot of young people have found social media, especially twitter as a means of sole income considering the unemployment rate in the country. A whole lot of graduates who have found it difficult securing jobs after leaving school have been able to develop businesses around social media either through Influencing or product/service sales. Even those who are lucky enough to be in paid employment still use social media for side-hustle to generate extra income.
There is no denying the untold hardship this twitter ban has caused these young people. Even do they have side-stepped the government ban by using VPN, brands cannot “legally” engage them for influencing gigs.
No gigs means No income. No income means more frustrations. Let’s not forget the recent crypto trading ban by the CBN which was another source of alternative income for young people. All these added to the high cost of living currently puts Millennials under intense pressure.
BRANDS
Immediately the twitter ban was announced by the information minister, he sent a directive to NBC to and other private sector businesses to disable their twitter accounts and stop using the platform outrightly.
This directive means brands (Private and public) can no longer engage influencers to promote their products and services. This means loss of revenue and income for these businesses.
Brands use social media platforms for other things aside product/service promotion. It serves as a platform for instant feedbacks and product/service reviews directly from customers and clients. Engaging their community and reaching out to other markets outside the country.
the financial implication is huge and one wonders if the people in power are aware of this or their reason for the ban far outweighs the loss in revenue for these businesses and the country.
GOVERNMENT
Several government parastatals and agencies have come to accept twitter as a means of quick and instant information dissemination to the public. In fact, the day the minister of information announced the twitter ban, he did it first via twitter – The irony.
You can hardly find a government agency without a twitter handle, including the National Assembly and HoR. All these handles have now been disabled in compliance with the government ban but there’s no denying the loss of goodwill; feedback and revenue that has been caused by this ban.
According to the minister, this is suppose to be a temporary ban and they’re willing to sit with Twitter to get them to comply with certain new rules and registration before the ban can be lifted.
Wether twitter will comply and agree to this is yet to be seen. As the days go by, the financial loss of this ban to young people, brands and businesses and ultimately the economy continues to mount.