Chief of Staff to Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, has again, proposed the regulation of social media in the country, stating that it has become a “menace”.
Gbajabiamila said this at the book launch of former Lagos state Governor Babatunde Fashola on Thursday in Lagos, where he represented the President.
According to the CoS, his previous moves of regulating the platform while he was Speaker of the House of Representatives, were strongly opposed by some civil society organisations in the country.
“I think the chickens have finally come home to roost. And I believe we are all on the same page now,” he said.
Gbajabiamila added: “As citizens become more interested in governance, it is the government’s obligation to ensure that engagement with citizens springs with shared agreement on what the truth is, what is real and what is not.”
“Social media has become a societal menace and must be regulated. As many people do not understand that once the send button is hit, there is a potential to reach millions of people around the world which is capable of causing a great danger not just in the society but even unintended consequences to the individuals that are receiving information which may include security of life.”
The topic of social media regulation in Nigeria has generated a lot of controversy in previous years.
Recall that in 2021, under former president Muhammadu Buhari’s government, X (known then as Twitter) was banned two days after the platform took down a controversial tweet by the president.
Former president Buhari, while responding to escalating attacks on government and security authorities by alleged pro-Biafra groups, tweeted:
“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Biafra war.
“Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,” the tweet read.
The tweet was massively reported, and was deleted for violating the platform’s “abusive behaviour” policy. The account was equally suspended for 12 hours.
The ban on X in Nigeria was eventually lifted after seven months.