Shehu Sani, vice-chairman of the senate committee on foreign affairs, has accused the federal government of treating the embassies abroad with lack of seriousness.
Sani said this when the ministry of foreign affairs appeared before the committee to defend its budget.
He said many of the nation’s embassies abroad were in a sorry state, lamenting over how the poor condition of the toilet in Nigerian mission in Moscow, Russia.
“No responsible nation that has clear cut development- driven and visionary foreign policy will deliberately under-fund her foreign missions,” the senator said.
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“For the past four years this committee has been over-sighting this ministry in terms of budgetary appropriations and other assistance, no significance progress can be said to have been made .
“Most of our missions are in sorry state by not being able to pay their electricity or water bills and even the nation’s diplomats too are in a state of hunger and indebtedness based on information gathered or practical experience witnessed.
“The so-called diplomats cannot pay their children school fees, and the worst of it is the toilet of the Nigerian embassy in Moscow, Russia, is stinking due to non-functionality of its flusher, embarrassingly making anybody that uses it to flush it with bucket of water fetched from adjoining embassy.
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“It is saddening that from all indications and based on budgetary proposals tabled before this committee, government is not making any serious attempt in tackling the global ridicule that smaller countries like Cuba, and Jamaica, are not facing.”
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