President Paul Biya accompanied his guest, President Muhammadu Buhari, to the hotel where the latter is lodged during his two-day friendly visit.
Drumbeats, chants and even traditional trumpet sounds greeted the arrival of the presidential motorcade as it cruised yesterday July 29, 2015 through the Yaounde May 20 Boulevard, from the Nsimalen International Airport, into the premises of the imposing Hilton Hotel at about 11:50 am. When the motorcade finally came to a halt, the visiting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, alighted from the presidential black colour S800 V12 Mercedes Benz limousine, accompanied by his host, President Paul Biya.
At the end of the red carpet, the Interim Chief Executive Officer of Hilton Hotel, Hendrick Calles, welcomed both smiling Heads of State before ushering them into the lobby where hotel staff and clients greeted their arrival with a lengthy applause. While President Buhari and his host took the lift up to his suite, accompanied by close aides, melodies from several dance groups filled the breezy and chilly air that prevailed most of yesterday morning in the capital city.
Behind over 500 students from the National Institute for Youth and Sports dressed in white-blue track suits and brandishing flags of both countries, groups displaying Cameroon’s rich cultural potential to the Nigerian guests included the Adjoyaye Group from the Upper Nyong Division of the Centre Region and the Hausa praise-singing Mbala Group from Bertoua in the East Region. “We arrived in Yaounde early this morning to assist President Paul Biya give a befitting reception to the visiting President of Nigeria. We are blowing this traditional trumpet for our August guest as we do only for traditional rulers,” Mbala Group leader, Mohamadou Sanni, told Cameroon Tribune.
The music got even louder when President Paul Biya left the hotel 10 minutes later for the Unity Palace, waving to the groups and crowds that gathered along the road. At about 1:45 pm, President Buhari, accompanied by the Nigerian High Commissioner to Cameroon, Her Excellency Hadiza Mustapha, boarded the presidential Mercedes Benz limousine, amidst very tight security, for the Unity Palace for a private discussion and enlarged working session. En route, the Nigerian President was also greeted by banners carrying messages praising the brotherly relations between both countries and the common front put up by both nations to tame Boko Haram attacks.
