Twitter ban: Buhari is low-budget Hitler, creating room for anarchy – Analysts react

President Muhammadu Buhari has been rebuked over the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria.

A public affairs analyst in Abuja, Steven James described Buhari as a “low budget Hitler” who wants to gag freedom of speech in Nigeria.

James lamented that the president and his All Progressives Congress, APC, got into power through the use of criticism but now finds it difficult to accept same from Nigerians.

Speaking with DAILY POST, he said: “Should we still call this a democracy? How can Buhari’s government ban Twitter? This government is the one giving room for people to create anarchy in this country.

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“Buhari and APC came into power by criticising Jonathan and if my memory serves me right, Jonathan was never this high-handed.

“Our president is just a low-budget hitler who is determined to destroy this country with his hands.”

Nigerian government had suspended micro-blogging site, Twitter in Nigeria.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed announced the suspension of Twitter on Friday during a press conference in Abuja.

Explaining reason for the ban, Mohammed had said Nigerians were persistently using the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.

The action taken by the Nigerian government now puts the country in the class of North Korea, Iran, China and Turkmenistan that banned access to Twitter.

The decision to ban Twitter was taken just a few days after the site deleted an offensive tweet from Buhari threatening the Southeast with war.

Buhari, while condemning the attacks on Police stations and offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in the Southeast had said his government would respond in a language they would understand.

The president also said ‘individuals or groups who want to destroy his government will receive the shock of their lives.”

Against the backdrop of this tweet, Nigerians called for the president’s account to be taken down by the platform.

Twitter eventually yielded to the cry of Nigerians and deleted the tweet.

However, a senior police officer resident in Abuja recalled how former President, Goodluck Jonathan warned Nigerians against voting for Buhari.

The officer who wished not to be named urged Nigerians to pray for God’s intervention.

“What do you expect, when Buhari was president during his military days, it was the same thing. Jonathan warned Nigerians but they refused to listen; they should shout sai Baba now let’s see. Nigerians should just be praying and asking for God’s intervention because things are getting out of hands,” he said.

A banker with one of the new generation banks said Buhari should not be blamed but his advisers.

He insisted that the president was ill-advised.

“Nigerians should not blame the president, he is ill-advised. He needs to sack some of his advisers urgently, they don’t have his interest at heart,” he said.

War threat: Buhari not genocidal, won’t allow anarchy in Nigeria – Presidency