Friday, October 22 2010, 08:56 BST
By Christian Tobin,
Lord Alan Sugar has been criticised by Nigeria's High Commissioner in London
for apparently insulting his countrymen on The Apprentice.
His Excellency Dr Dalhatu Sarki Tafida accused Sugar of making a "demeaning"
and "spurious" comment about the African country based solely on an individual "sordid" deal.
Tafida was referring to an exchange between Sugar and candidate
Stuart Baggs on the opening episode of the current series.
When asked why he shouldn't be fired, Baggs told Sugar:
"If you give me 100 grand a year, I will deliver to you ten times that, and
if I don't, take it all back. A money-back guarantee, I'm that confident."
Sugar replied:
"I had an offer like that from Nigeria once and funnily enough it didn't transpire."
According to the Daily Express, Tafida said: "Lord Sugar's remark on Nigeria is preposterous and spurious.
"It was an unprovoked, damaging remark on a sovereign and independent state
of over 150 million people, based on his alleged sordid and isolated deal with
a Nigerian individual. It is demeaning and unfortunate."
However, a BBC spokesman defended Sugar and claimed that the entrepreneur
was making a joke about a notorious email scam, in which recipients are promised
vast amounts of money in return for a smaller amount of their own money or bank account details.
"It is clear Lord Sugar was just making a reference to a perception about email scams,"
the spokesman said. "I don't think it can be seen as a comment against the whole Nigerian nation."
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