“They (Nigerian scammers) all have been hired to
run the Obamacare website,” the senator was
quoted as saying.
The Nigeria Embassy in Washington on Friday
formally protested the slandering of its citizens
as `scammers’ by U.S. Senator, Ted Cruz of Texas,
on Monday.
“You are no doubt aware of the reaction of
Nigerians and friends of Nigeria to a statement
credited to your good self on the above.
“Our immediate reaction at the Embassy is to
assume that you were wrongly quoted and that
the statement would be denied. We are,
however, surprised that this has not happened.
“We have no choice than to assume that the
statement was deliberately made by you,’’ Ade
Adefuye, Nigeria’s Ambassador to the U.S., said in
a letter addressed to the congressman on Friday.
“For a start, we are shocked that a high profile
senator of a country, which is at the forefront in
building a peaceful and stable world in which
nations and peoples treat each other with mutual
respect could be engaged in an act which offends
the sensitivities of an important component of
his constituency.
“Distinguished senator, I am sure you are
sufficiently familiar with the constructive
contributions which Nigerians have made to
economic, social and political lives of Texas,
especially in the Houston area.
“Every country has its own share of law
breakers. To use the activities of few as an
opportunity to cast aspersions on the integrity of
a country and its people is not only unfair but
also excessively offensive.
“You yourself made the point that the so-called e-
mail scammers have disappeared from the scene.
But it is not because they were recruited to work
on Obamacare.
“It is because of the successful efforts of our
government working through the embassy and
the international law enforcing agents to curb the
activities of these few law breakers,’’ the envoy
said.
He, however, noted that it was not the practice of
any Nigerian diplomatic mission to interfere in
the domestic affairs of the host country.
Mr. Adefuye added that Nigeria would not sit
back, fold its arms while a politician assaulted the
integrity of the country and people in the process
of appeasing the base instincts of a few
misguided elements in his constituency.
“Distinguished senator, the least we can say is
that Nigerians feel offended by you. They
demand an apology,’’ Mr. Adefuye said.
More Nigerians react.
More Nigerians have expressed displeasure over
the remarks made Mr. Cruz.
Mr. Cruz was quoted as saying that the new
Affordable Care Act exchange Website of the U.S.
was being run by Nigerian email scammers.
“You may have noticed that all the Nigerian email
scammers have become a lot less active lately,”
Mr. Cruz was quoted by U.S. media as saying at a
gathering with supporters in Houston. “They all
have been hired to run the Obamacare website.”
Habib Habu, the Consul General, Consulate
General of Nigeria in New York, urged the
senator to withdraw the comment and offer
unreserved apology to Nigeria and Nigerians.
“I would remind Senator Cruz that Nigerians are
the most educated immigrant community in the
U.S.
“There is no sphere of human endeavour that a
Nigerian has not excelled in the U.S…
“Nigeria doesn’t deserve this unfortunate and
unwarranted maligning of its people for a cheap
political shot,’’ Mr. Habu said in a note to the
North America correspondent of the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday.
Acho Orabuchi, a Nigerian Community leader in
the U.S., said it was rather unfortunate and
unbecoming of a Senator of the U.S. to denigrate
another country, especially a friendly country to
the U.S…
“For Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to ridicule and
disparage Nigeria and its citizens in an effort to
appeal to his Tea Party congregation or political
base is beneath his esteemed office.
“In fact, I’m appalled and terribly disappointed in
Sen. Ted Cruz’s comment about Nigeria.
“Nigeria is a peace-loving country that cherishes
its friendship with the U.S., I hope that people
like Sen. Cruz would not strain a relationship
that has been nurtured for so long.
“It will be appropriate for Sen. Cruz to apologise
to Nigeria and Nigerians, who are law-abiding
citizens of the U.S,’’ Mr. Orabuchi said.





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