The former Secretary General of the Commonwealth Emeka Anyaoku has urged the Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari to refuse Morocco's bid to join the Economic Communities of West African States (ECOWAS), reports today ThisDay, the Nigerian national newspaper. According to the same source, Anyaoku announced that yesterday, 10th of August, in LagosNigeria's largest city during the second annual Akintola Williams Foundation's lecture. For the senior official, allowing Morocco in the community «would further erode the influence of Nigeria in the sub-region». «With the prospect of Morocco joining the ECOWAS, Nigeria would be risking a diminished influence in the sub-region; it would also be opening itself up to Morocco's inevitable determination to get its pound of flesh following Nigeria's role in the admission of Western Sahara into the OAU/AU. And this is not to talk about the adverse economic consequences for Nigeria from Morocco's membership of ECOWAS». For the record, Morocco's application to join the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has been accepted in principle on the 4th of July amid the organization's summit held in Liberia. Since then, ECOWAS has been studying the Kingdom's request before granting it the official and final OK.
