"As Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain, I spent an entire year in one hotel room..."
The designated Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegu-Ojukwu, sais she could not use her official apartment in Nigeria's mission building in Spain when she served as an ambassador because of its poor condition.
Mrs Odumegu-Ojukwu, the widow of former Biafran leader, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, said she had to stay in a hotel for one year in Spain because she could not cope with the poor condition of the building.
She said this when she was responding to questions from senators during the ministerial screening at the Senate on Wednesday.
"As Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain, I spent an entire year in one hotel room because when I got to Spain, the mission building was in such an appalling condition," she said.
It was not clear whether she used public funds for her hotel bills during the period or the total expenses incurred as she was not asked and she did not provide further details.
Mrs Odumegu-Ojukwu served as Nigeria's ambassador to Spain for over a year from 2012.
She said during that period, she collaborated with officials at the Nigerian mission in Spain to renovate the building.
"Together with very dedicated officers, we conducted the massive renovation works, not just on the mission building itself, giving Nigeria an edifice truly deserving of a nation of its standing. The Nigerian embassy in Madrid that you see today is a product of my tenure in that country, and what was particularly sad about the previous state of the building was that it was very, very close to the Estadio Bernabeu, which is the home of Real Madrid football club.
"So it was such an eyesore that people who were going to the stadium for the various matches would pass the embassy building in its decadent state. But today, the Nigerian embassy in Spain is a magnificent building. Not only that, the residence of the ambassador was also given a facelift and other buildings belonging to our country within that kingdom," she added.
Poor funding
Mrs Odumegu-Ojukwu said poor funding of missions always distracts many ambassadors from renovating the country's mission building abroad.
She stressed the need for appropriate funding of missions.
"It is true that in most missions, because of the poor funding, most ambassadors are constrained when it comes to carrying out refurbishments and renovation works, and this is quite unfortunate because a lot of the embassies are actually going through this situation.
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"Missions abroad actually reflect the true magnitude of Nigeria's standing in the Committee of Nations. It is very, very important because this is what will give our nation the much-needed respect to carry out diplomatic functions in a building that does not truly reflect the true standing of any country. It is very, very limiting, and this has, to a large extent, diminished our standing around the world.
"And I think that this is something that the government, under this president, in view of the four tenets of the foreign policy thrust, which is democracy, development, development, diaspora, and, of course, looking at the fact that most of the people who have to come abroad, especially many of you from these hallowed chambers who have to come for exchanges, study tours, e.t.c will be hosted in those buildings. It is imperative that when you are on those exchanges, and you have to meet your compatriots and you also have to meet your colleagues in the host countries, that these meetings are done in respectable surroundings."
