A State dinner was organised for the outgoing Nigerian High Commissioner on Friday.
The outgoing Nigerian High Commissioner to Cameroon, Philip Ali Dauda has lauded cooperation between the two countries, saying the completion of the Enugu-Mamfe-Bamenda Trans-national Highway will greatly boost the movement of goods, services and people between the two countries and the sub-region in general.
The High Commissioner who was speaking at the Mont Febe Hotel in Yaounde on Friday March 30, 2012 at a State dinner organised for him on behalf of President Paul Biya by the Minister of External Relations, Prof. Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo, also noted that his almost four-year tour of duty in the country had helped in facilitating dialogue between Cameroon and other African diplomats.
Ambassador Philip disclosed that in a meeting earlier in that day with President Biya, the Head of State expressed his support to the Nigerian government in its fight against Boko Haram Islamic militants. According to the diplomat, security agencies from both countries have been carrying out joint border patrols to check the activities of Boko Haram.
Earlier in his toast at the State dinner, Minister Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo listed some of the achievements of Ambassador Philip as including the facilitation of dialogue between Cameroon and other African diplomats, the signing and effective take off of the Enugu-Mamfe-Bamenda Highway project, organisation of joint border patrols and the signing of agreements on sports, electricity interconnectivity and physical education. Others are the conclusion of work on the implementation of the International Court of Justice, ICJ ruling on Bakassi, the visit of President Goodluck Jonathan and the participation of Nigerians in international craft exhibitions in Cameroon.
Philip Ali Dauda was later decorated by Prof. Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo with the Grand Officer of the National Order of Valour medal, the highest in the country. The ceremony was also attended by the Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, Basile Atangana Kouna of Energy and Water Resources and Nigerian and Cameroonian diplomats.
