The Guardian Post Publisher, Ngah Christian, clinches Best Print media Manager Award.

The award ceremony that took place at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel on Thursday July 25, 2024, was attended by members of government, members of the diplomatic corps, General Managers of public and private companies, political, religious, traditional and civil society leaders.

The daring journalist of exceptional class, with a global experience, during the event, bagged “Cameroon’s Best Print Media Manager Award”.

According to the CENPA award jury, the distinction is in recognition of Ngah’s “exemplary and inspiring media management know-how through The Guardian Post newspaper, that has brought pride to the print media industry in Cameroon and the Economic Community of Central African States, ECCAS”.

The jury, comprising credible personalities, vetted the recognition through a rigorous procedure. International legal heavyweight and anti-corruption icon, Barrister Akere Muna, chaired the jury. 

Senator Nfon Mukete IV Ekoko, Paramount Ruler of the Bafaw and King of Kumba, was scribe of the jury, while Esther Omam, a globally recognised peace and community actor who is Executive Director of the nonprofit organisation, Reach Out Cameroon, was equally member of the jury.

It was a celebrated Ngah Christian who lived the moment of honour in the presence of dignitaries at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel, where the ceremony took place. 

Among the guests present at the event were members of government, traditional rulers, leaders of civil society organisations, diplomats among others. 

In the glory of resounding cheers and unending applause from guests, Ngah who till date, holds a special spot when it comes to media management in Africa, moved to the platform to get his undisputed recognition.

Ngah Christian & penchant for breaking records

In the person of Ngah Christian, Cameroon today boasts of a newspaper that is published all seven days of the week. It is a feat in the Economic Community of Central African States, ECCAS. 

What’s more, besides being the best edited, content-rich newspaper, The Guardian Post newspaper has from humble beginnings under Ngah since August 2001 when it was created, burgeoned to become the star of the nation’s media industry.

Today, it is published with its front and back pages appearing in full colour. Ngah has expanded The Guardian Post through his unstoppable visionary management, to include a special edition just for sports that is published every Saturday.

There is The Guardian Post Sunday, another wonder edition that handles soft news and other topical issues away from the hard news of the week. 

From Monday to Friday, The Guardian Post is the newspaper at the heart of everything that transpires in Cameroon.

He has kept the newspaper at the apex of journalism, respecting best practices amid a difficult economic climate. 

Ngah has a unique management style that involves not just digitalising The Guardian Post but also diversifying investments to keep the newspaper, which has grown to be a public trust alive. The goal is to ensure its millions of readers don’t miss out on anything.

Ultramodern printing press, auspicious head office

Besides repeatedly referring to The Guardian Post as God’s newspaper, Ngah Christian has through persistent hard work shattered the glass ceiling in several respects.

He is a known and respected record breaker in Cameroon’s difficult   media industry in several respects. Ngah’s The Guardian Post has an ultramodern printing press. In addition to this, The Guardian Post, thanks to the shrewd management savvy of Ngah Christian, is housed in an auspicious office. 

It is a structure constructed with proceeds from the sale of The Guardian Post in the last 23 years. This again, is another feat because The Guardian Post, under Ngah’s management is one of the only private media organs in Cameroon that is housed in its own structure.

Regular staff salary…

Another area where Ngah Christian has continued to earn admiration is that, from inception, The Guardian Post, which he founded in 2001, with a capital of 150,000 FCFA, has never known salary arrears. 

It is a sensitive area in his management record and journalistic exploits that has kept Ngah Christian’s credibility intact.

As a mediapreneur of class, Ngah Christian has placed premium interest on the wellbeing of staff to keep the chain of production alive. His management style has prioritised success, human relations and staff welfare among others.

The unique media personality

Born to a pastor of the Cameroon Baptist Convention, CBC, Ngah Christian, has in 23 years of boisterous and lucid media management, walked his way to become a national, Sub-regional and global brand. 

He did not enjoy the luxury of parenthood. He lost his mother just two hours after he was delivered! 

The Ngah Christian today moving mountains and rewriting Cameroon’s media history, passed through hell but removed every trace of the deplorable days of his childhood. 

His relationship with journalism is that of a calling and passion. While still in Secondary School, his journalistic talent was already making waves. 

He ended up volunteering with the state broadcaster, Cameroon Radio Television, CRTV, as an announcer in Bamenda in 1995 but his dreams were intact.

He joined The Herald newspaper in 1996 and held the following functions; Santa correspondent, Bamenda Deputy Bureau Chief, Bui and Donga Mantung Bureau Chief with seat in Kumbo. 

He was later transferred to Yaounde in 1999 as Circulation Manager and six months later appointed as Managing Editor of The Herald newspaper. He held that position until 2001, when he quit The Herald to create The Guardian Post.

The Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian Post, despite palpable successes already, found time to return to school, despite taking several training courses in journalism in Cameroon and abroad.

He holds a degree in journalism from the Advanced School of Mass Communication, ASMAC. Ngah is also holder of a US-sponsored Diploma in Investigative Journalism and a British-sponsored Diploma in Environmental Reporting. 

Ngah, who has widely travelled, is the Goodwill Ambassador of Arkansas State, in the United States of America, USA; President of the Cameroon English Language Newspaper Publishers Association, CENPA; Acting President of the Federation of Cameroon Newspaper Publishers, FEDIPRESSE; Member of the Committee to study application files for government's subsidy to the private media; Member of the Committee to study publication of legal notices in newspapers in Cameroon and Member of the eight-man Committee created by government to work out a blueprint to rescue the dying media industry in Cameroon. 

His towering credibility saw the United States, US State Department selecting him to cover US 2016 presidential election.

Ngah was also among 15 journalists selected from across Africa, who had a working session with French President, Emmanuel Macron, in Lagos, Nigeria, in 2019.

This story was first Published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3192 of Wednesday August 07, 2024