The French Ambassador to Nigeria, Jerome Pasquier, says France is in support of the European Union’s reaction to banning of Twitter by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The EU delegation in Nigeria had condemned the ban and Pasquier also expressed concerned about the ban, saying it would affect the means of livelihoods of a huge population of youths who were earning their living through social media platforms like Twitter and others.
He spoke in an interview with journalists on the sidelines of the programmes held to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the French Institute for Research in Africa in Nigeria on Friday night.
The envoy said, “The EU delegation issued a communique and France is part of the EU. Of course, we share their view and the concern has been expressed. After that, I don’t want to go into it because it is Nigeria’s domestic issue and it is up to Nigerian people to say what they think about it.
“I am a bit concerned because I understand there are a plenty of young people in Nigeria creating business activities, using this type of tools, Twitter, and it is very important for them to be able to continue to earn their living.
“I hope the government will find a solution. All countries have some questions about social media and nobody has really found yet the right solution; banning is obviously not the best solution.
“About IFRA, we are very happy to have this French institute here in Ibadan and it is doing a very good job. It is very important to have research in social sciences to better understand the Nigerian society.”
The acting Director of the Institute of African Studies, Dr Senayon Olaoluwa, identified paucity of fund as one of the major problems to digitising humanities in Africa.
Another expert at the Institute of African Studies, Dr Ayo Adeduntan, also said whenever government embarked on prioritisation, institutes like the Institute of African Studies usually received the first blow.
