The President Muhammadu Buhari administration has blamed Nigerians over the decision of Twitter to site its Africa headquarters in Ghana.
Information Minister Lai Mohammed inculpated the accusation while speaking to the media on Thursday.
The giant social networking site earlier in the week publicized its resolve to open its office in the West African country, acknowledging Ghana as a champion for democracy, supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the open internet.
In his reaction, Mr Mohammed said the micro-blogging site picked Ghana over Nigeria because of the conduct of Nigerians, including the media, whom, according to him, de-marketed the country, particularly during the historic #EndSARS protest.
He refused to acknowledge that the resolve of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to stifle free speech which Twitter hailed Ghana for championing might have contributed to the preference for the West African nation.
“The pasttime of most Nigerians, especially the media, is to find fault and most times exaggerate the challenges the country is facing and at no time was this better said as during the EndSARS protests where Nigerian journalists, both tradition and new media, were trying to outdo themselves in painting Nigeria as a hell where nobody should live,” the government mouthpiece said.
“When you destroy your own house, where are you going to live? You can imagine the job opportunities that citing that headquarters in Nigeria would have created.
“You can imagine the kind of visibility it would have given Nigeria but we destroyed it. And don’t forget that it is what the insiders so that the outsiders would use to judge you or condemn us. This is a good example that Nigerians should learn better to manage the image of the country.
“This is what you get when you demarket your own country. Where they all conspired to vilify, not just the government but the people of Nigeria.
“And I thank God that the last US report has vindicated the government that no single life… there is no corroboration or evidence that anybody was killed at the Lekki Toll Gate as opposed to majority of the media actually presented. I think this would teach all of us a lesson that we have no country but Nigeria,” he added.
