
Lai Mohammed blames unpatriotic Nigerians for Twitter’s choice of Ghana as headquarters of its Africa operations
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has blamed unpatriotic Nigerians for Twitter’s choice of Ghana as the headquarters of its Africa operations.
The Minister stated this in an interview with newsmen in Abuja on Thursday.
He said:
“The natural expectation would have been for Nigeria to be the hub for Twitter especially in this part of Africa, even with the fact that we have 25.4 million Twitter users in Nigeria, against eight million users in Accra. So, clearly the decision was not a commercial and business one.
“But I think Twitter has the prerogative and the exclusive right as to where to site its headquarters. But I hope that this will serve as a lesson to Nigerians.”
The minister added, “The reasons cited by Twitter for citing the headquarters in Accra, Ghana is that Accra is a champion of democracy and there is rule of law in Accra, among other reasons.
“This is what you get when you de-market your own country. This will teach a lot of us a lesson that we have no country than Nigeria.”
“We are not saying that you should not criticise the country but be fair and patriotic. When you destroy your own house, where are you going to live?, he asked.
Mohammed noted, “You can imagine the kind of job opportunities that siting that headquarters in Nigeria would have created, the kind of visibility it would have given Nigeria but we destroyed it. It is what the insiders say about their country that the outsider will use to judge and condemn the country”.
WATCH THE INTERVIEW HERE – https://www.instagram.com/tv/CNslBfjHI3Y/?igshid=1sezccmbkxuhu
Recall that the social media went agog on Monday following Twitter’s choice of Ghana as the focal point of its Africa operations
Justifying the choice of Ghana, Twitter management said: “As a champion for democracy, Ghana is a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet, of which Twitter is also an advocate.
“Furthermore, Ghana’s recent appointment to host the secretariat of the African Continental Area aligns with our overarching goal to establish a presence in the region that will support our efforts to improve and tailor our service across Africa.”