Since the Federal Government’s ban on Twitter took effect on June 5, businesses in the country may have lost N150.46bn ($366.88m)
According to the NetBlocks Cost of Shutdown Tool, it costs Nigeria’s economy N102.77m ($250,600) every hour to ban Twitter.
As at the time of generating this data, it has been 1,464 hours (61 days) since the ban and the country may have lost N150.46bn.
The Tool uses indicators from the World Bank, International Telecommunication Union, Eurostat and U.S. Census to estimate the economic impact of an internet disruption, mobile data blackout or app restriction in a nation
Following the June 4 suspension of Twitter in Nigeria, telecommunication companies in the country on the directive of the Nigerian Communications Commission, started blocking access to Twitter on June 5.
However, pressure groups including the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, took the Federal Government to the ECOWAS court.
According to a report in The PUNCH, the Federal Government told a Federal High Court in Lagos that it had not stopped Nigerians from using Twitter, adding that many Nigerians still used it every day.
This was in a counter-affidavit the government deposed to in response to an originating motion filed by human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong.
The affidavit said, “The applicant (Effiong) and the class he seeks to represent can still operate those Twitter accounts from anywhere in the world and even from Nigeria.
“Nigerians are still tweeting, even at this moment as the ban on Twitter is not aimed at intimidating Nigerians or an infringement on the rights of Nigerians to express their opinion.”
Some Nigerians have migrated to the use of Virtual Private Networks in other to access Twitter.
Nigeria has about 33 million active social media users, with about 26 per cent on Twitter, according to a report by Statista.
