H.E. Brian Olley, British High Commissioner to Cameroon, talks about his country's offer of financial support to enable the regional task force fight Boko Haram.

What justifies this donation of FCFA 4.4 billion by the British government to fight Boko Haram?

This donation is absolutely to demonstrate the United Kingdom’s support and commitment to helping the countries in the region to fight against Boko Haram. Terrorism is unfortunately a challenge that we face everywhere in the world; in Europe, in the United Kingdom and in Cameroon and as we have seen regrettably in the last few days in Kenya as well. So, it is vital that we all join together to fight this challenge.

In February, there was a successful Heads of State Conference here in Yaounde hosted by President Paul Biya and the countries that joined together in the COPAX meeting in February showed great foresight and great determination together to fight against Boko Haram. Shortly afterwards, they underlined the need for funding to help them in this fight. We are also aware that since that declaration, there has been some reluctance perhaps from the international community to contribute to the Multi-national Joint Task Force.

There have been some question marks about how exactly it will be formed and to whom we should give the money. I am delighted that the United Kingdom is now making the substantial donation to the Multi-national Joint Task Force. We are doing it through the African Union’s peace facility, so that the funding is available for the Region to decide where it can be best used. We hope that this will encourage others to make equally substantial donations.

What is your take on how Cameroon is managing the fight against Boko Haram alongside Lake Chad Basin coalition forces?

I must say that we have all been hugely impressed by the courage shown by the brave young Cameroonian soldiers who have been fight this terribly difficult war and I salute all of those who are fighting now and particularly I wish to underline my deep admiration and respect for those Cameroonians who have unfortunately lost their lives or have been injured in the war. I think that Cameroon has really shown that world what a determined and professional force they are and I admire hugely the progress they have made particularly in cooperation with other forces from the region.

When you affirm that the UK is working towards the swift adoption of a UN Security Council resolution to welcome the Multi-national Joint Task Force. How deep is this commitment when it is observed that the resolution has taken so long but yet to come?

UK’s commitment to help the region achieve a resolution in the United Nations is absolute. We feel it is very important to have a UN resolution and we will do everything we possibly can to help the countries of the region achieve that. We are working very hard with other permanent members of the Security Council including France and the USA and we are also working with other members of the Security Council, for example Chad. To achieve a resolution which can have the support of the UN is difficult and complex.

Therefore, we are working very closely with all the diplomatic missions in the United Nations headquarters in New York, and in capitals to try to achieve this resolution as quickly as possible. Of course, with Nigerian elections that were going on, this has complicated things because not surprisingly the Nigerian administration has had to focus on the elections as well as other issues they are having to deal with. But we very much hope that we can together achieve a UN resolution swiftly. I understand that there is a Heads of State meeting coming up shortly, we will be working alongside countries in the region to try to support a UN resolution as swiftly as possible.

With the outcome of the Nigerian Presidential elections and successes by coalition forces against Boko Haram, how do you see the evolution of the fight against the insurgency?

The outcome of the Nigeria is an extraordinary demonstration of democracy in Africa. The way the outcome of the elections has been accepted and the way the leaders have encouraged the people of Nigeria to accept this democratic mandate is really admirable. The fight against Boko Haram has been going well through the courageous action of the Cameroonian, the Chadian and the Nigerian forces over the last few weeks. Boko Haram is undoubtedly now on the retreat.

But I must caution everybody that if they think that the fight against Boko Haram is over then I regret to say that history shows that the fight against terrorism and the asymmetric warfare that the terrorists use means that it is very difficult to finish the fight. Thus, it is very likely that the war against Boko Haram will continue for a significant amount of time, we cannot say how long. We cannot say the war is completed until life returns to normal.

So, it is vital that the international community and the regional partners carry on in the excellent direction that we have started in the last few weeks and continue and we finish the job. The United Kingdom is determined to be in support and to help in any way we possibly can.