Former Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed has described the June 2021 suspension of Twitter, now rebranded as X, as the single most difficult decision he took during his ministerial tenure, acknowledging that the action disrupted Nigerian entrepreneurs who depended on the platform commercially and created perceptions about the government’s commitment to freedom of expression.
Mohammed made the disclosure while delivering a guest lecture at the University of Abuja Business School, drawing on the episode as a lesson in crisis communication for business leaders about the dangers of minimizing explanation when taking controversial decisions.
He said the suspension was not taken without provocation or warning, noting that the government had engaged consistently with Twitter and other platforms over what it described as irresponsible use before the action was taken. He said the suspension was lifted once the platform agreed to register locally, pay taxes, and operate responsibly.
Mohammed said the critical lesson from the episode was that unpopular decisions demanded more communication rather than less, and that silence following a controversial action was inevitably interpreted as guilt rather than restraint. He said the rationale for difficult decisions had to be explained clearly, repeatedly, and through multiple voices if public understanding was to be achieved even where public agreement remained elusive.
