Super-rich Nigerians are ordering pizza from London and having it delivered by British Airways, government minister claims

Jack Taylor/Getty; Jiffy Naija/YouTube

A British Airways plane. Inset: Nigerian agriculture minister Audu Ogbeh.

• Nigeria's minister of agriculture claimed that wealthy citizens are ordering pizzas from London and having them delivered back home on British Airways flights.
• Audu Ogbeh's comments come as Nigeria tries to cut down its reliance on foreign imports, which is seen as a status symbol.
• Ogbeh said the imports were harming local farmers.

Some wealthy Nigerians are ordering pizzas from London and having them delivered back home on British Airways flights, a government minister has claimed.

Audu Ogbeh, Nigeria's minister of agriculture, told a senate committee last Tuesday: "Do you know, sir, that there are Nigerians who use their cellphones to import pizza from London? [They] buy in London, they bring it on British Airways in the morning to pick up at the airport."

"It is a very annoying situation," he added, "and we have to move a lot faster in cutting down some of these things."

Ogbeh doesn't name the Nigerians who allegedly make the orders, and it's not clear whether they personally fly to London for the pizzas or get someone else to do it.

Watch Ogbeh's speech here:

Ogbeh's comments came as Nigeria tries to cut down on its reliance on foreign imports, which the minister said was costing local farmers, Nigerian news site The Cable reported.

Ogbeh also slammed citizens who rely on imports, which are seen as status symbols.

Some citizens import daily necessities like rice and tomato paste because they think "it shows status, class, that they only eat imported things," Ogbeh said, according to the Daily Mail.

Amara Nwankpa, a director at the Yar'Adua Foundation in Abuja, responded in jest: "Dear @British_Airways, how come you didn't tell us you run a pizza delivery service to Nigeria? Is there an app for this?"

Business Insider has contacted British Airways for comment on Ogbeh's claim.