Nigerian diplomat upset at Lord Sugar's remark

Nigerian diplomat upset at Lord Sugar's remark
Nigerian diplomat upset at Lord Sugar's remark (Image credit: Doug Peters/PA Photos)

Lord Alan Sugar has upset the Nigerian High Commissioner in London, with comments he made about Nigeria during The Apprentice. The Evening Standard reports that the businessman and peer caused trouble with a comment he made in the first episode of the new series of the BBC show. His comments came after contestant Stuart Bagg, 21, said in the boardroom: "If you give me one hundred grand a year, I will deliver to you 10 times that and if I don't - take it all back. A money back guarantee, I'm that confident". Lord Sugar replied: "I had an offer like that from Nigeria once and, funnily enough, it didn't transpire." His Excellency Dr Dalhatu Sarki Tafida, Nigeria's High Commissioner in London, said in a statement: "Lord Sugar's remark on Nigeria is preposterous and spurious for a number of reasons. "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." A spokesman for The Apprentice said: "It is clear Lord Sugar was just making a reference to a perception about email scams. "I think that was what the remark was about and a person has chosen to make a comment on it. "It is clear what he was referring to and I don't think it can be seen as a comment against the whole Nigerian nation."

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.