Catholic Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama has described democracy under President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime as a mixture of dictatorship as he condemns the Twitter ban in Nigeria.
The archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja on Tuesday urged Mr Buhari to provide a good life for Nigerians and preserve the things that make them happy, insisting that Twitter should not be banned.
“Our democracy is a mixture of so many types of government. We have the traditional style of leadership, the dictatorial type of rulership, and elements of democracy that are brought into it.
”So, it gives us something different from the conventional democracy. But whatever it is, we should be free and happy. We should have enough. Our children should go to schools that are good and attend medical facilities that are very good, and people should be free to move around,” the Catholic archbishop explained.
Emphasising the importance of Twitter, Mr Kaigama said, “We need this social media. They are so important. What we need is to stress that they communicate what is authentic, genuine and what is going to foster harmony, social cohesion and promote values.
“That is what we want, not to ban them. But to promote them and ensure that people use this media correctly. The wrong use of the media is what we should ban, not the media itself. This means a lot to Nigerians, and it is a very genuine source of communication that should be allowed.”
He urged Mr Buhari’s regime to resolve its disagreement with Twitter as soon as possible.
”I think it is very important that they resolve whatever the problem is and quickly lift the ban. So that people with economic and political interest can use it effectively, in order to promote progress,” he stated.
The Catholic cleric stated this while speaking with journalists at a conference in Abuja on ‘Understanding the mind of the Church on media and communication,’ organised by the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria.
According to Mr Kaigama, Nigeria has little freedom of speech, but the freedom to enjoy one’s life and be happy is what Nigerian leaders need to work on for Nigerians to enjoy true democracy.