The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has accused Nigerians and the media of being responsible for Twitter snubbing Nigeria and deciding to have Africa headquarters in Ghana.
Twitter Inc on Monday announced that it is opening shop in Ghana, a move many in the Nigerian tech ecosystem considered a loss for Africa’s most populous country.
While expressing their disappointment on social media, some section of Nigerians alleged that Twitter’s move to Ghana was because of anti-business policies of the Buhari-led administration.
Reacting to the situation on Thursday however, Mr Mohammad absolved the Federal Government of the blame and said he hoped Nigerians would love to be patriotic in managing the image of the country.
He cited the discussions in the media and social media during the EndSARS protests and said the way the citizens painted Nigeria then was partly responsible for the snub now.
“The reasons cited by Twitter for siting the headquarters in Accra, Ghana is that Accra is a champion of democracy and there is rule of law in the country, among other reasons,” he said.
“This is what you get when you de-market your country.
“The media is more to blame for this which most times exaggerate the challenges in the country.
“At no time was this worse than during the EndSARS protest when Nigerian journalists both traditional and new media were trying to outdo themselves in painting Nigeria as a hell where nobody should live.
“When they all conspired to vilify not just the government but the people of Nigeria.”
The minister continued that negative conversations in the country has cost Nigeria the ability to attract job opportunities into the country.
“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?
“You can imagine the kind of job opportunities that siting that headquarters in Nigeria would have generated, the kind of visibility it would have given Nigeria but we destroyed it,’’ he said.
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