Hello guys. It is a new year but for social media users, it’s the same old cruise. The year ushered in a number of ‘gists’ and as usual, we are here to serve them to you as e dey hot.
The Federal government finally lifted the ban on Twitter and users trooped to the app to express their opinions. A loan app posted an obituary for one of its defaulters. This made social media users question the ethics of the company as well as the credibility of Nigerians who default on their payments.
Obi Cubana was in the news once again with his arrest by NDLEA and an in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), a referee sent the football world on fire when he ended a match before time was up, not once but twice.
Sit back and let’s take you through these stories one after the other.
Federal Government lifts Twitter ban
The Nigerian government announced that it has lifted the Twitter ban imposed since 5th June 2021. During the ban, Nigerian users made use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to access the platform.
Upon the announcement, users of the app expressed different opinions; some questioned the motives of the government for lifting the bans while for others, it was business as usual with the trolling and dragging.
Windscribe, a provider of VPN services made a tweet about how Nigerians were quick to discard their services after the government’s announcement.
Some elements that will not cease from the Nigerian social media space is humour and subs.
Meanwhile, those with trust issues will keep the VPN apps on their devices, just in case.
Double wahala in AFCON
The African Cup of Nations kicked off on the 9th of January, 2022, a year after the original date due to the pandemic. The host country is Cameroon and the tournament is scheduled to end 6th of February.
The tournament has been beleaguered with many incidents ranging from climatic conditions to poor camping of the players. History was also made as it saw the appearance of Rwandan Salima Mukansanga as the first female referee of the tournament.
However, the latest gist from the tournament is of the referee that blew the final whistle in the 85th minute of the game between Tunisia and Mali. After being forced to restart the game, the referee, Mr Janny Sikazwe from Zambia, then blew the whistle again 17 seconds before the usual 90 minutes. This led to outrage on the pitch and off it.
Mali won the game with one goal and zero goals from Tunisia. It was later revealed that the referee was suffering from severe heat and dehydration which caused him to lose track of time. As usual, social media users found the situation comical.
Some were of the mind that the situation did not discredit the tournament as it was a human error that could have happened anywhere while others simply did not find it funny.
Loan app posts defaulter’s obituary
Social media was agog when a Nigerian, Chinedu Daniel, called out Sokoloan for posting his obituary because he defaulted on a loan he got from the loan app.
A lot of social media users condemned the action while blaming the economy as the reason why people run to loan providers.
In this life, people have different priorities and others are always ready for violence.
Obi Cubana probed by NDLEA
Business mogul, Obi Cubana trended again on social media after news of his arrest by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) broke out. The socialite was in the news last year when he was investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) following a lavish burial he put together in honour of his late mother.
According to reports, he was probed because his accounts were found to be in connection with some drug dealers. He was granted bail and social media users had different opinions as to the reasons for the frequent investigations into his lifestyle.
For some, he should not have flaunted his wealth during his mother’s burial while juxtaposing it with how corrupt politicians are still scot-free.
Others were of the opinion that tribalism was at play hence all the attention by investigating bodies.
That’s all we have for you this week. Have a great weekend. Cheers!
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