Kristian Ngah Christian: The Unsung Mediapreneur, Defender of Anglophone Rights

When it comes to speaking out against Anglophone marginalisation in Cameroon, rarely is the name Kristian Ngah Christian, publisher/editor-in-chief of the nation’s most regularly published newspaper, The Guardian Post, mentioned.

But the renowned journalist is a personality who has gone through fire both from the government and separatists in speaking on issues around Anglophone marginalisation.

Make no mistake. He had been on the beat before the Anglophone Crisis erupted in 2017.

Unlike others who dare to speak up for Anglophones, Ngah’s uniqueness is that his belief in a one and indivisible Cameroon remains unshaken.

Ngah’s patriotism has no trace of fence-sitting, given that he detests any form of marginalisation of Anglophones.

He has, on personal basis and through The Guardian Post, sometimes played the advocate, speaking up on issues concerning Anglophones and citing shortcomings.

Sometimes, as a journalist of uncommon mettle, Ngah, with his close to three decades of journalism experience, alerts the government on Anglophone perception about the way the country is being run.

Recently, an open letter he wrote 12 years ago to the Head of State, Paul Biya, warning of the feeling in the North West and South West Regions relating to the thorny issue of Anglophone marginalisation, came back to the public discourse.

Ngah, in the open letter, even went further to propose solutions he thought and still holds can help reverse the situation in the North West and South West Regions.

No one can deny that The Guardian Post, which he heads, has been the most vocal media organ when it comes to issues that benefit Anglophones.

Thanks to his advocacy, Anglophones were appointed to head the Ministries of Territorial Administration and Secondary Education. These only happened in 2018—the first of such since independence.

Other examples of the benefit of his pressure for things to change also include advocacy on the Bamenda-Babadjou road, among several others.

Ngah has been threatened and sometimes humiliated by those who hate his tenacity to speak truth to power, especially when it touches on the well-being of Anglophones.

The Guardian Post, which he runs, has paid a huge price through bills that government institutions refuse to pay and outright denial of advertisements.

Separatists have, on several occasions, run propaganda against his person and The Guardian Post. They have banned the newspaper severely across the North West and South West Regions.

In addition, the same separatists have, since the Anglophone Crisis, produced fake front pages of The Guardian Post to run their illusionary agenda.

Sometimes, pro-regime fake front pages of The Guardian Post have also been seen flying on social media.

Ngah has been between the devil and the deep blue sea for years.

But one thing that stands out is his tenacity and ingenuity in continuing to run what, to date, remains Cameroon’s most successful private media venture in history.

In terms of print media journalism, experts say the level at which Ngah operates with his running of The Guardian Post and defending Anglophone rights, is something never seen since independence.

In the person of Kristian 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 and content-rich newspaper, The Guardian Post, from its humble beginning under Ngah in August 2001, when it was created, burgeoned to become the star of the nation’s media industry.

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 wonderful 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.

Besides repeatedly referring to The Guardian Post as God’s newspaper, Ngah 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, is housed in an auspicious office.

It is a structure constructed with proceeds from the sale of the Guardian Post in the last 25 years of the newspaper’s existence.

This, again, is another feat, because The Guardian Post, under Ngah’s management, is the only private media organ in Cameroon that is housed in its own structure.

Another area where Ngah has continued to earn admiration is that, from inception, The Guardian Post, which he founded in 2001, has never known salary arrears.

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

As a mediapreneur of class, Ngah has placed premium interest on the wellbeing of staff to keep the chain of production alive.

His management style prioritises success, human relations, and staff welfare, among others.

Born to a pastor of the Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC), Ngah has, in close to 30 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 Kristian Ngah Christian of 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 journalism talent was already making waves.

He ended up volunteering with the state broadcaster, Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV), as an announcer in Bamenda in 1995.

His dreams were intact.
He joined The Herald newspaper in 1996 and held the following positions: Santa correspondent, Bamenda Deputy Bureau Chief, and Bui and Donga Mantung Bureau Chief with seat in Kumbo.

He was later transferred to Yaounde in 1999 as Circulation Manager. Six months later, he was appointed as Managing Editor of The Herald newspaper.

He held that position until 2001 when he quit 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 holds a US-sponsored Diploma in Investigative Journalism and a British-sponsored Diploma in Environmental Reporting.

Ngah, who has traveled widely, is the Goodwill Ambassador of Arkansas State, in the United States of America, USA; President of the Cameroon English Language Newspaper Publishers’ Association (CENPA); Vice 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 an eight-member Committee created by government to work out a blueprint to rescue the dying media industry in Cameroon.

His towering credibility saw the US State Department selecting him to cover the 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.

Mimi Mefo Info