Twitter Ban: Comparing Nnamdi Kanu To Buhari Gives President And Biafran Agitator Equal Status, Says Yusuf Ali, SAN

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Yusuf Ali, has faulted President
Buhari for suspending Twitter operations in Nigeria.

Ali, in an interview with PUNCH
Newspaper^[1], said
suspending Twitter is never a solution to any retribution because
there are others with similar outreach that people can go to.

He said, “The main cause is the alleged deletion of the
President’s tweet on the Indigenous People of Biafra and I believe
the Presidency should have handled this in a different way. Even
though the platform was totally banned, Twitter is not the only
online platform in the country. What will happen is that people
will migrate to other platforms. What I am saying in essence is
that suspending Twitter is never a solution to any retribution,
because there are others with similar outreach that people can go
to. I think the President should have been better advised.

“The government should have engaged them and let them see the
negative things they have been doing, which the government is not
satisfied with and if they have explanations to offer, good and if
they do not, then the government can do what it likes. But when you
just take a decision like this, there are always reactions to
things that are negative. They should have gone through the method
of engagement and discussion.”

On the accusation of double standard by the Federal Government
against Twitter for deleting Buhari’s tweet without deleting that
of Nnamdi Kanu, Ali said such comparison amounts to placing Buhari
and Kanu on equal status.

“This is unfortunate. How can you compare Nnamdi Kanu with the
President? Kanu is a citizen of our country. Buhari is the
President of Nigeria; if you compare the two, what you are saying
is that they are of equal status. That is an inadvertent
development. Anything Kanu says doesn’t carry weight as compared to
the President, otherwise you are promoting him.” Ali said

Furthermore, Yusuf Ali opined that the suspension of Twitter
infringe on rights of Nigerians. He said FG should have rather wait
to go against persons who post things contrary to law.

He said, “The right to express and pass information is
fundamental and guaranteed in our constitution; anything stopping
this has gone contrary to the law. There are laws to check those
who abuse these laws. These laws are inalienable. For me, it is
better to allow information to flow than restrict it, which is much
more dangerous. You can go after somebody who publishes something
seditious, but when you deny them the opportunity to say these
things in the open, they will go underground and discuss it; this
can bring about problems. If you remember during the military
regime, when some newspapers were proscribed, all they did was to
go underground and started to produce elsewhere. When you do things
like this, you are encouraging people to be more innovative to beat
whatever measures you have put in place.”

The distinguished silk also responded to the loyalists of
President Buhari’s regime who said countries like France, Egypt and
China, among others, have taken action against Twitter to justify
Buhari’s action.

According to him, “Nigeria is Nigeria and we should not compare
ourselves with other countries on a matter like this. We should
align ourselves with countries that respect fundamental rights.
Like I said earlier, Nigerians have the right to express themselves
and pass information; anything contrary to this is against the law.
Allow people to say what they want to say even if they do not agree
with you.”

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Yusuf Ali, has faulted President
Buhari for suspending Twitter operations in Nigeria.

Ali, in an interview with PUNCH
Newspaper^[1], said
suspending Twitter is never a solution to any retribution because
there are others with similar outreach that people can go to.

He said, “The main cause is the alleged deletion of the
President’s tweet on the Indigenous People of Biafra and I believe
the Presidency should have handled this in a different way. Even
though the platform was totally banned, Twitter is not the only
online platform in the country. What will happen is that people
will migrate to other platforms. What I am saying in essence is
that suspending Twitter is never a solution to any retribution,
because there are others with similar outreach that people can go
to. I think the President should have been better advised.

“The government should have engaged them and let them see the
negative things they have been doing, which the government is not
satisfied with and if they have explanations to offer, good and if
they do not, then the government can do what it likes. But when you
just take a decision like this, there are always reactions to
things that are negative. They should have gone through the method
of engagement and discussion.”

On the accusation of double standard by the Federal Government
against Twitter for deleting Buhari’s tweet without deleting that
of Nnamdi Kanu, Ali said such comparison amounts to placing Buhari
and Kanu on equal status.

“This is unfortunate. How can you compare Nnamdi Kanu with the
President? Kanu is a citizen of our country. Buhari is the
President of Nigeria; if you compare the two, what you are saying
is that they are of equal status. That is an inadvertent
development. Anything Kanu says doesn’t carry weight as compared to
the President, otherwise you are promoting him.” Ali said

Furthermore, Yusuf Ali opined that the suspension of Twitter
infringe on rights of Nigerians. He said FG should have rather wait
to go against persons who post things contrary to law.

He said, “The right to express and pass information is
fundamental and guaranteed in our constitution; anything stopping
this has gone contrary to the law. There are laws to check those
who abuse these laws. These laws are inalienable. For me, it is
better to allow information to flow than restrict it, which is much
more dangerous. You can go after somebody who publishes something
seditious, but when you deny them the opportunity to say these
things in the open, they will go underground and discuss it; this
can bring about problems. If you remember during the military
regime, when some newspapers were proscribed, all they did was to
go underground and started to produce elsewhere. When you do things
like this, you are encouraging people to be more innovative to beat
whatever measures you have put in place.”

The distinguished silk also responded to the loyalists of
President Buhari’s regime who said countries like France, Egypt and
China, among others, have taken action against Twitter to justify
Buhari’s action.

According to him, “Nigeria is Nigeria and we should not compare
ourselves with other countries on a matter like this. We should
align ourselves with countries that respect fundamental rights.
Like I said earlier, Nigerians have the right to express themselves
and pass information; anything contrary to this is against the law.
Allow people to say what they want to say even if they do not agree
with you.”