By Kassim Omomia
Speaker of the House of Representatives Honorable Femi Gbajabiamila has painted a gloomy picture of Nigeria embassies and missions overseas, describing their conditions and activities as embarrassing

Gbajabiamila stated in his remarks while declaring open a two- day public hearing organized by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs,  investigating incessant malpractices associated with diplomatic postings and deliberate   draining of resources in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that it was not impossible that the allegations are not true because he has visited many of the missions and embassies, personally right from the days as minority leader with the same embarrassing stories

“Personally, let me say that there’s hardly a country I visited that there are no embarrassing stories in our missions. I visited many, right from my time as Minority Leader to House Leader and I can recall such stories”.

The Speaker added, that beside his personal experience, there are several petitions and pleadings from Nigerians at home and abroad, alleging varying degrees of malpractice and malfeasance in the Ministry’s operations and its subordinate departments and agencies, which the House may not draw any conclusion now ,but exercise it’s constitutional authority through the House Committee on Foreign Affairs led by Honorable Yusuf Buba and  conduct a thorough investigation, so as to  substantiate or refute the allegations, relying on the available evidence and  contributions of stakeholders.

He explained that the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs , it’s agencies and departments particularly the missions all over the world are  uniquely responsible for framing the way the world sees the country and as well promote the well-being of the people, world wide.

“Where other government institutions have an inward-looking mandate, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by design, sets its face to the world on all our behalf” Gbajabiamila stated further, warning that ​It will be the greatest tragedy if what the Ministry shows falls far short of the heights to which the country aspire and yet hope to attain.

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He, however, cautioned against  the adage that “you never get a second chance to make a second impression”, noting that as the ministry is a gateway to Nigeria and looks externally,  the House of Representatives will work with everyone who bear a responsibility to try to fix what needs fixing and rebuild what is broken.

“This is our duty to the Nigerian people, and it is a commitment we will not waiver from or allow ourselves to be distracted”1, he assured.