The Twitter ban in Nigeria affects Nigerians in many different ways. From business owners to already marginalised groups. So, these seven Nigerians talk about how the Twitter ban in Nigeria affects their mental health.
Jane
It’s just not the Twitter ban in Nigeria per se, it’s the general state of Nigeria. Everything about this country is so bad. The future is so uncertain because I don’t have the money to relocate. I am just anxious and I don’t know what is going to happen to all of us. I am not doing okay.
Anita
The ban is affecting me deeply. I usually open this app impulsively to just say whatever is on my mind and to vent, but I can’t do that anymore. The VPN is messing with my other apps, so it is like a tiny inconvenience that’s giving me a serious tension headache.
Peace
I’m fully aware of the fact that this country will move mad and I need to get the fuck out of here with immediate alacrity because one small declaration can destabilise my entire life. I have three remote jobs. An internet shutdown means I’d be unable to work, and I might lose my job or lose hours ( I charge per hour) and my employers would be unable to trust that I can do the job, through no fault of mine.
I’m literally scared. Freedom of speech is so important – I even have an entire business and product I’m building around it and plan to launch in 2022. It would wreck all my sources of income.
Tolu
The fact that the possibility of being able to japa for my family is ridiculously low has me stressed. I’m scared and I’ve been upset at my parents because when we had the opportunity to leave, my dad turned it down. Now, we’re here.
Amaka
My parents are not urgent about leaving, and I feel like I’m being paranoid or overreacting. We can leave if we want to, but they’re just praying for the best and whatnot. It stresses me out.
Kunle
It’s definitely made me more agitated. Now that there’s a Twitter ban in Nigeria, I’m constantly worrying about what they are going to come for next. I’m worried that if we lose Twitter, we’ve lost all our free speech. Twitter is the only place we can disseminate information without any arbitrary regulatory body sanctioning us. I’m very scared of what will come next.
Daniel
Before the Twitter ban, I was on a Twitter cleanse because I was spending too much time on the app. I also work a lot on Twitter so I needed to get off the app. Since I was already off for a few weeks, the ban didn’t affect me in the sense that they were taking something I needed away from me. It affected me in the sense that I’m actually in Nigeria where a minister can order that the people’s rights be taken from them and the order will be executed. It’s scary.
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