Former United States President, Donald Trump has on Tuesday, June 8 congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari for suspending the operations of Twitter in Nigeria.
In a statement on Tuesday, he expressed that the action was a victory for the people of Nigeria and a needed check on the excesses of social media giants.
Trump then called on other world leaders to take stringent aims at Facebook, Twitter and other big tech players and warned that their reign would soon be over as other competitors would emerge.
His statement reads;
Congratulations to the country of Nigeria, who just banned Twitter because they banned their President. More COUNTRIES should ban Twitter and Facebook for not allowing free and open speech-all voices should be heard. In the meantime, competitors will emerge and take hold. Who are they to dictate good and evil if they themselves are evil?
Trump, who has been permanently banned from Twitter, also said he wished he had taken a similar measure when he was banned from the micro-blogging platform in January.
Read Also: Twitter Says Trump Is Banned Forever – Even If He Runs For President Again
The former US president then hinted about running for election again in 2024 to carry out his desire of regulating social media giants.
He stated;
Perhaps should have done it while was President. But Zuckerberg kept calling me and coming to the White House for dinner telling me how great was. 2024?
Last week Friday, Federal Government of Nigeria suspended Twitter operations in the country after the social media firm took down Buhari’s tweets that suggested that he threatened genocide against Igbo people in the South-East.
Following this, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami directed that violators of the suspension be prosecuted.
The directive was given after many Nigerians resorted to using Virtual Private Networks to access Twitter.
Since the implementation of the ban, many Nigerians including prominent personalities like Pastor Enoch Adeboye of Redeemed Christian Church Of God, Pastor William Kumuyi of Deeper Life Church, Kaduna state governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and others have continued to tweet using VPN.
The suspension action has faced worldwide criticism, and Twitter said it was working to restore access to Nigerians.
Meanwhile, Trump got permanently banned from the platform earlier this year, following the deadly January 6 riots that interrupted Congress’ certification of President Biden’s electoral college win, citing concerns about “risk of further incitement of violence.”
Read Also: US Election Result: 4 Dead, 52 Arrested After Trump’s Supporters Invaded US Capitol
Trump spent four years rallying his followers, amplifying conspiracies and lambasting his critics via the social media platform.
The Republican politician was also initially indefinitely suspended from all Facebook platforms over the same riot.
Read Also: Donald Trump Banned From Facebook For Two Years Over Capitol Riot Posts
However, according to recent development, Trump’s account will remain suspended until 7 January 2023, and Mark Zuckerberg’s company says he will only get it back if the “risk to public safety has receded.”
