Nigerian celebrities have taken to the microblogging site, Twitter to condemn the mass removal of Twitter Blue Tick from high-profile persons on Thursday, April 20.
OsunDaily News reports that Elon Musk on Thursday, April 20, 2023, removed all verification badges of celebrities and politicians who are yet to pay the $8 subscription fee.
Among those affected in Nigeria are politicians Peter Obi, Bola Tinubu Atiku Abubakar, and Shehu Sani.
Some of Nigeria’s top singers Davido, Burna Boy, and Wizkid have also had their verification badges removed.
Singer, Peter Okoye, and actresses Funke Akindele, Kate Henshaw and Tacha have also been affected.
Reacting to the latest development, Kate tweeted, “We no dey pay shishi..We still for here..Jack is missed,” referring to former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.
Tacha wrote, ‘Unverified me!!! Oh NO i can’t eat’
Peter Okoye wrote, “Elon Musk is a BUSINESS MAN Period!”
Funke tweeted, “Ha!! Blue Tick!! O ma se o!! Oju a tun ra ri.”
Pope Francis, billionaire Bill Gates are some of those who have also lost their verification badges around the world.
Musk, who has seen his $44 billion investment in the site shrivel, described the blue tick prior to now as a “lords & peasants system.”
He added that the price could fluctuate according to country. Twitter’s Blue service operates in a handful of countries.
Musk said subscribers to the new Blue service would also get priority in replies, mentions and search, which he said was “essential to defeat” spam accounts.
The changes would affect about 400,000 blue tick accounts overall on Twitter.
The blue tick verification process was brought in by Twitter in 2009 in response to celebrity concerns about impersonation.
