Officials, dance groups and banners reserved the best for the Heads of State and Government.

Heads of State and Government as well as other delegation leaders who arrived Cameroon yesterday February 15 ahead of today’s Extraordinary session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Peace and Security in Central Africa on the Fight against Boko Haram Terrorist Group got a hectic reception at their base, the Yaounde Hilton Hotel. Officials, dance groups and banners gave the leaders the warmest welcome, reminiscent of Cameroon’s legendary hospitality.

The various groups and officials put in place to make the guests feel at home away from home began showcasing their hospitality to the delegation of Soa Tome et Principe led by the country’s Prime Minister, Patrice Emery Trovoada. When the delegation leader alighted from the limousine that conveyed him from the Yaounde Nsimalen International Airport in the company of Cameroon’s Communication Minister, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, the General Manager of Hilton Hotel and some officials were already at the entrance of the hotel to usher him in.

The same ritual was repeated when the second personality, Central African Republic transitional President, Catherine Samba Panza arrived in the company of Cameroon’s Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Family, Prof. Marie-Thérese Abena Ondoa. The dance groups that welcomed her at the airport escorted her right to the hotel singing patriotic songs.

The drumbeats and songs touched the ceiling when the President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo arrived the hotel slightly above 6 pm in the company of Higher Education Minister, Jacque Fame Ndongo. His country’s flag, like those of other countries, flouted high even as his countrymen and women resident in Cameroon sang in joy of his presence in the country. As all of these went on banners carrying meaningful messages erected across the 20^th May Boulevard electrified the air. One could read, “Cameroon for stronger commitment by international community in the fight against Boko Haram” and “Boko Haram, a continental security problem that demands the mobilization of all,” et al.