Ministerial nominee, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, has stated the efforts she made in rebuilding Nigeria’s dilapidated embassy in Madrid, Spain.
She also recounted the challenging experience she had as Nigeria’s ambassador to Spain.
The former beauty queen disclosed this during her Senate screening on Wednesday [today].
During the screening, the mother-of-three revealed that she lived in a hotel for a year due to the dilapidated state of the Nigerian embassy in Madrid.
President Bola Tinubu nominated Bianca Odumegu-Ojukwu as the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs.
Speaking at the screening before the Senate on Wednesday, she detailed how the embassy’s dilapidated condition did not align with Nigeria’s image abroad and how it motivated her to lead an extensive refurbishment project.
Bianca said, “I would like to say that my past records speak for me. As an 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.
“The embassy was located very close to the upscale estate of Galagao, where people would pass by on their way to various events and matches.
“It was disheartening that this decadent structure represented Nigeria in such a prestigious area,” she stated.
Bianca disclosed that she took immediate steps to address the issues, organising significant repairs and preservation efforts to overhaul not only the mission building but also the ambassador’s residence and other Nigerian-owned properties in Spain.
“The Nigerian embassy in Madrid that you see today is the product of my time in that country,” she said, noting that her focus was to restore Nigeria’s image to one that “truly deserves a designation of outstanding.”
Bianca is one of the seven ministerial nominees currently being screened by the Senate.
