EXPLAINER: How To Use Twitter In Nigeria Despite Ban By Buhari Government

Nigerians who wish to access Twitter following the suspension of the social media platform’s operations in the country can alternatively use Virtual Private Networks.

A virtual private network extends a private network across a public network. It enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network.

The Nigerian government had, through the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension of Twitter on Friday.

This was after the micro-blogging site deleted “genocidal” tweets from the President, Muhammadu Buhari, on the Biafran War of 1967-1970, wherein many lives were lost.

The announcement was contained in a statement issued by the Ministry of Information and Culture which cited the “persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.” as the reason.

The Nigerian government then directed the National Broadcasting Commission to immediately commence licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.

A check by SaharaReporters in the early hours of Saturday showed that the platform is no more active within Nigeria.

Here is an explainer on how you can bypass the government’s suspension of Twitter using VPN.

VPN is a connection that allows users to establish a protected network connection when using public networks.

It is essential in helping users to protect their internet traffic and keep their identities private online.

By connecting to a secured VPN server, for instance, your internet traffic goes through an encrypted tunnel that nobody can see into, including hackers, governments, and your internet service provider.

One of the benefits of using a VPN is that it changes your IP address. This implies that with a new IP address — which can be that of any country of your choice — you can use Twitter as if you’re in your selected country without restriction.

Below are a list of VPNs to download:

NordVPN: it is fast, reliable, top-security, has a thirty-day money-back guarantee, and is used to access worldwide locations.

Surfshark: it does not have an internet limit, cost-effective, great security features, and great unblocking features.

ExpressVPN: excelling in unblocking different content, fast, reliable, great streaming features, efficient applications, and excellent customer support.

CyberGhost: fast, secure, consistent connections and great security.

IPVanish: uses a maximum of ten devices and offers excellent services for Amazon Fire TV and Kodi.

PrivateVPN: fast, reliable, and secure when streaming different Netflix content