Nigeria may soon become a pariah state as foreign countries, most of them powerful nations, have expressed disgust over the highhandedness of President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime on Nigerians and assured of their preparedness to hand down some sanctions on the regime.
Appalled by the draconian dispositions of Muhammadu Buhari, the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Norway, Ireland etc have denounced the federal government’s misrule, particularly the unilateral ban on Twitter, describing it as an infringement of the people’s rights to information and free speech.
On Sunday, The United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), the European Union (EU), the Canadian Government and the Republic of Ireland, expressed disappointment over the ban on Twitter’s operations in Nigeria.
In a joint statement issued in Abuja, the diplomatic missions of Canada, the Delegation of European Union to Nigeria, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, conveyed their disappointment over the government of Nigeria’s announcement suspending Twitter and proposing registration requirements for other social media.
Their statement reads, “We strongly support the fundamental human rights of free expression and access to information as a pillar of democracy in Nigeria as around the world and these rights apply online as well as offline.
“Banning systems of expression is not the answer. These measures inhibit access to information and commerce at precisely the moment when Nigeria needs to foster inclusive dialogue and expression of opinions, as well as share vital information in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic”.
As the it stands now, Muhammadu Buhari’s government may soon be treated like the regime of Gen Sani Abacha’s in the international scene if the vexatious dispositions of these foreign powers are anything to go by.
The US, UK, EU, Norway, the Canadian government and the Republic of Ireland further stated that the path to a more secured Nigeria lay in more, not less, communication to accompany the concerted efforts of Nigeria’s citizens in fulsome dialogue toward unity, peace and prosperity.
“As Nigeria’s partners, we stand ready to assist in achieving these goals,” the statement added.
Uche Nwosu is a two time Shell Petroleum PLC award winner in the year 2000;
He won the Shell Award on Investigative Journalism and Environmental Cleanliness.
