The downtime of one of Nigeria’s most popular websites, Nairaland.com, on Wednesday, entered the third day on Wednesday with users showing their displeasure over the site’s inaccessibility.
Nairaland, an online discussion forum, that has dominated Nigeria’s web rankings for almost 20 years, went down on Monday after it was “taken down” by the host of its server.
The forum’s founder, Seun Osewa, disclosed via tweets on his X profile early Tuesday that the downtime was due to an abusive report which he had “overlooked” after it was “originally sent on the 14th.”
He added that the server was taken down by the host after which he “removed the offensive content.”
However, he stated that after taking some hours to get support on how to resolve the issue, the forum was restored on the server.
Osewa added that matters took another turn when “they took the server down again with no warning.”
The forum’s founder, in a tweet early Wednesday, appealed to users and advertisers on the forum, adding that his “neglect of Nairaland is directly responsible.”
The tweet read, “Dear Nairaland members and advertisers, I’m very sorry for this unacceptable, ill-timed outage.
“My neglect of Nairaland is directly responsible. I was also unprepared to move to a new host at a moment’s notice after nine years with the current host. The process is ongoing but slow.”
However, users of the forum and tweeps of the social media app, X, have been expressing their displeasure and disappointment over the development.
A user, @BashirAhmaad, tweeted, “Does anyone have information on what’s happening with Nairaland? Typically, it is part of my nightly routine to check the site before bed, but it appears the page is down tonight. Could it be a technical issue, hacking, or something else?”
@jigslionheart wrote, “You mean you have never thought about investing in your own server? As big as NL is?”
Another tweep, @ebunleyi stated, “@seunosewa still think Nairaland is a joke. You overlook what? Imagine if Google experienced such downtime. You really do not rate Nairaland like we rate it sha. Get an active team in place and upscale this site. It means a lot to a lot of Nigerians.”
@rani_reine tweeted, “No wonder. I have tried logging in multiple times in the past six hours. Please get it back.”
Another user, @akintollgate, wrote, “Nairaland is bigger than being at the mercy of a host! Scale! Scale! Scale…..I open Nairaland at 7am, 12pm, 5pm and 11pm daily! You have built a true indigenous brand! It’s bigger than what your preferences are….build a team and let it unleash its potential! All the best…..”
One user, @Bimfo, stated, “Own the Abuse team. Have your server at your disposal. As you said in 2014 when we were hacked, Nairaland is bigger now. Oga Mii, Employ people. You are capable. If you really want to consider this advice, you can start by employing me, sir. I will manage any amount.”
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
