By Joel Popoola
Every day Twitter remains banned in Nigeria costs our economy $6,000,000 – but could the ban cost our place in the Commonwealth too?
This week it has been reported that the Commonwealth is “following developments in Nigeria very closely”.
Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland, has stated that the Commonwealth is “closely monitoring developments around suspension of Twitter, and allegations of repression of the rights to freedom of expression, access to information, media freedom, as well as disregard for the rule of law in Nigeria.”
Baroness Scotland continued: “All Commonwealth member countries, including Nigeria, have obligations and commitments to uphold freedom of expression as one of the core values and principles of the Commonwealth Charter”.
The most serious punishment for members is indefinite suspension – something which has only happened four times in the history of the Commonwealth, and in the case of Pakistan and Fiji only in the aftermath of military coups.
You may think that the Commonwealth is just a relic of the British Empire, but it is a proven fact that the organisation helps member countries improve their export competitiveness, diversify their exports and secure better trade deals.
As Nigeria faces up to the twin challenges of recovering from the impact of Covid-19 and a post-oil future, these are things we need to take very seriously.
Before the pandemic, trade among Commonwealth countries was valued at close to $700 billion a year. These trading relationships are more important than ever as our nation strives to recover from it.
Intra-Commonwealth inward investment—when an overseas company establishes its operations in a foreign country— was valued at $870 billion in the same period. A share of this investment is critical to creating the jobs which will solve our unemployment crisis and raise living standards across Nigeria.
Commonwealth heads of government have committed to attempting to increase intra-Commonwealth trade to $2 trillion by 2030 – and following its exit from the European Union the United Kingdom is actively pursuing trade agreements with other Commonwealth states as part of its independent trade policy.
This situation is about much more than Twitter. Other government efforts to apparently regulate private broadcasting and digital media has not just been criticized by civil society organizations at home, they have been noticed abroad.
All of these gains will be off-limits to Nigeria if we willingly accept international pariah status.
Baroness Scotland is said to be “engaging the relevant stakeholders” with regards to the situation in our nation. That’s something we need to be doing too.
Rescuing our international reputation begins with democratic renewal at home.
In the twenty-first century the both civil society and the global economy will become more and more dependent on individual connections between people made possible by digital technology.
We need to stop building walls and start building bridges. We need to start meaningful conversations between electors and elected.
That’s why the digital democracy campaign I lead created Rate Your Leader, a free app connecting people and politics.
Rate Your Leader allows users to indentify local leaders and to contact them with a touch of a button, highlighting problems and worries person to person but also allowing communities to collaborate to make local areas better. The app also allows politicians to better understand what matters most to the people who elect them.
At a time when the government has obstructed an important channel of communication between electors and elected Rate Your Leader allows people to put questions directly to local leaders. Rate Your Leader also lets local people rate politicians for accessibility, transparency and honesty – building trust in both politicians and political institutions.
Nigerian suspension from the Commonwealth is not merely an academic possibility. It has already happened to us. In 1994 we were suspended for five years following the execution of 10 human activists, causing great damage both our reputation and our development. We were even publically condemned by Nelson Mandela himself.
Indeed, Nigeria’s readmission to the Commonwealth was conditional on the completion of democratic elections in 1999, after which outgoing military ruler General Abdulsalami stated:
“I have no doubt democracy has come to stay”.
International observers are clearly asking themselves if this is still the case.
We should be complying the Commonwealth Charter – and other international human rights standards- as a matter of routine. But when do not do so potentially jeopardises our future prosperity it is clearly time to think again.
Joel Popoola is a Nigerian tech entrepreneur, digital democracy campaigner and founder of the Rate Your Leader app. He can be reached via @JOPopoola
