Nigeria’s ambassador to the United States is demanding that Senator Ted Cruz apologize for comments in which he joked that it seems like “Nigerian e-mail scammers” have been running the dysfunctional Healthcare.gov website. Ambassador Ade Adefuye suggested that the Texas senator made the remark to appeal to prejudiced opponents of President Obama.
“It is unfair of any senator to essentially use citizens that are law abiding, to use Nigerians as cannon fodder,” Adefuye told Politico. “Many people from Nigeria are making meaningful contributions to American society, and Nigerians are very law abiding and making contributions to their host community.”
“We recognize that we have efforts on the part of Senator Cruz to appeal to some animus in his domestic base,” he added. He said Cruz’s comments were “completely over the top,” “went too far,” and had angered Nigerians.
Cruz’s joke referred to a type of online financial scam which is famous for being frequently launched from Nigeria.