Question 6
Explain five foreign policy objectives behind Nigeria’s membership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Observation
This was another unpopular question and many of the candidates who answered it did not performed very well. They misinterpreted the question and gave wrong answers resulting in low marks. The candidates were expected to give the following points as their answers.
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- Promotion and protection of the interest of Nigeria
- Good neighbourliness
- Promotion of the settlement of regional disputes through peaceful means
- Rapid social and economic integration
- A single large trading bloc
- Regional security
- A common platform in dealing with the international community
- Increased trade among member states i.e., free movement of persons and goods
- Protection and well-being of Nigerian citizens in member countries
- Cooperation in the area of sports and culture
- Technology transfer
- Free movement of skilled labour
- Assisting in the process of democratization and civil rule
- Harmonization of industrial policies
- To benefit from the ECOWAS compensation fund
- Stimulate the establishment of bilateral and multilateral institutions