Morocco has withdrawn its ambassador from Nigeria after accusing President
Goodluck Jonathan of using
King Mohammed VI as an election campaign tool.
According to
BBC, the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that Jonathan had spoken to the king over the phone. However, Morocco’s foreign ministry has denied that the phone call ever happened, and accused the Nigerian government of trying to use the king to gain favour with Muslim voters.
In a statement released on Sunday, Nigeria’s foreign affairs ministry denied reports that President Jonathan had been snubbed by King Mohammed. “This information is absolutely not correct as the president did in fact speak to the Moroccan monarch… both leaders spoke extensively over the phone on matters of mutual interest and concern,” the statement read in part.
However, Morocco’s foreign affairs ministry also released a statement refuting the reports. Here is an excerpt:
“The king has actually declined the request of the Nigerian government because it is part of the internal electioneering. The kingdom of Morocco expresses its astonishment and denunciation to these unethical practices that are contrary to the spirit of responsibility that must prevail in relations between states. As a consequence Morocco’s Abuja ambassador was being recalled immediately for consultations.”
“Now, we can breathe again,”with that statement, rolled eyes and a clucked tongue, a colleague of mine registered her feelings about the curtain fall on the AMVCAs. I didn’t blame her. The AMVCAs were another (especially gruelling day) at the office for her. She had to be at Eko Hotel bright and early, get accreditation, set up for the red carpet, prep her hosts, and, shepherd dozens of egomaniacal celebrities to her section on the red carpet so she can score great interviews and her senior producers would be happy. I didn’t completely share her sentiments. I was privileged (yes, I do say privileged) to see the set- up of the awards ceremony before lights, camera, action and it was very impressive to say the least. The red carpet area though badly ventilated and suffocating was impeccably sectioned off with TV media and photographers properly allotted space without them having to fight and jostle to do their work. The red carpet itself was rolled out from the inner chamber of the Expo Hall to the Eko Hotel lobby and unto the concrete, Oscar-style. Life size awards were stationed all around Eko Hotel. Makeshift seats on raised platforms were rigged in the hall itself, as one would see in stadiums. You could not help but get a sense that this was something BIG. And then it was showtime…CONTINUE
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