According to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state, the federal government’s move to restrict Twitter activities in Nigeria was “ill-considered.”
Despite being a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Akeredolu slammed the federal government, claiming that the decision will certainly result in youth unemployment.
While speaking at a Democracy Day event in Akure on Saturday, the governor expressed his disappointment with the decision.
It should be noted that Mr Akeredolu and his counterpart in Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai, dared the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, last week.
They defied the Nigerian authorities directive suspending activities of Twitter by posting tweets through their verified accounts.
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While Mr El-Rufai shared an opinion article by Nebojsa Malic, a Serbian-American journalist, to justify the ban on Twitter, nudging the United States to learn from the move by the Nigerian government, Mr Akeredolu posted a statement reacting to the night attack that claimed several lives in Igangan community in Oyo State on Sunday.
Open condemnation
On June 12, various state governors held a symposium to discuss matters affecting their respective states in celebration of Democracy Day. Various programmes organised by authorities at different levels and states were boycotted by Nigerians who used the day to protest against irregularities in the country.
The protests were organised by civil society organisations and activists with no particular central leadership structure. They sought to express their grievances against the poor governance and the worsening insecurity in the country under Mr Buhari’s watch.
Speaking during the Ondo state government celebration of June 12, Mr Akeredolu openly criticized the federal government. Our correspondent obtained a short video clip of the governor’s address where he made mockery of the APC led government.
While he tried not to make his comments seem like an attack on the federal government, he wondered why the decision was made.
“There are many things we do a number of time that I don’t know what cause the reason. Let me just leave it,” Mr Akeredolu paused.
After a second, he openly expressed his mind, saying youth take advantage of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other platforms to make money before the government’s ban.
“There is youth unemployment everywhere and we are hearing the banning of Twitter and banning that, where do you want them to go?,” Mr Akeredolu asked the crowd a rhetorical question as he shook his head in disappointment at federal government.
Also, this newspaper earlier reported that Mr Akeredolu questioned the workability of a return to open grazing, practised during the First Republic as directed by Mr Buhari.
