error commands commence before first target...

[Zuheyr Alsalihi]

Hello,

I am using the make:
$ make --v 
GNU Make 3.80

I seem to have a very random error, the famous
Makefile:147: *** commands commence before first target.  Stop.

Always related to echo or @echo commands.
Offending code: (well very randomly any echo can offend)
======================================================================
ifeq ($(COMPILER),gnu)
F90 = /usr/bin/gfortran
F90FLAGS_RG = --chk a,e,s --f95 -g \
                   --trace --xref  --trap -Wa,--32
F90FLAGS_DEBUG = --chk a,e,s --f95 -g \
                   --trace --xref  --trap -Wa,--32
        echo " -GNU COMPILER-"                      <- this is the line
endif
======================================================================

Is this a bug!? What can I do about this please help.

Many thanks and Best regards
Zuheyr Alsalihi