Facebook Swayed Nigerian President to Reverse Ban

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said on Tuesday hundreds of posts on his Facebook page had helped persuade him to reverse his suspension of the national soccer team from international competitions. Jonathan on Monday rescinded a two-year suspension imposed following the side's embarrassing performance in the World Cup.

The Super Eagles were knocked out in the first round after failing to win a game. "To Suleiman Musa, Nwanze Francis Uchenna and Ifade Udunayo Peter and the hundreds of Nigerians who appealed to me on this page, I have listened to your voices and those of others," Jonathan said. "We must now work together to make sure that the Nigerian Football Federation and our players do us proud in future events," he wrote on the social networking site. The presidency confirmed late last month that Jonathan had launched a page on Facebook. The leader of Africa's most populous nation has more than 75,000 Facebook followers and lists his political views as "moderate".