Blasius Ngome, former Director of Communication and Public Relations at the National Refining Company, SONARA, , has successfully defended his Ph.D thesis in Corporate Communication from the University of Douala.
The public defense took place on April 16, 2025 at the University of Douala on, “Communication Trends in Corporate Social Responsibility (CRS) by mobile telephone companies in Cameroon and Outcomes.”
Facing a six man jury for seven hours, Ngome disclosed that mobile telephone companies like Orange Cameroon, MTN Cameroon, CAMTEL and NEXTEL are not communicating enough on newspapers and on their websites.
He argued that these companies have limited themselves only to television and radio stations, whereas, websites are supposed to expose them to the world.
The Candidate revealed that mobile telephone companies are supposed to adopt a mix communication strategy in order to reach stakeholders and customers worldwide.
Ngome said this will make them generate more money, have a better image, good reputation, creat value, and boost stakeholders’ engagement.
On the methods implored, he stated that his thesis combined both quantitative and qualitative methods. He said he content analyzed 20,880 newspapers in Cameroon for the quantitative method, and conducted in-depth interviews with 28 newspaper publishers in Cameroon for the qualitative.
According to the Candidate, only 38 articles were found on Corporate Social Responsibility from these newspapers; CAMTEL 13, MTN Cameroon, 10, and Orange Cameroon, 9.
Ngome said according to his results, 64.3% of respondents indicated that CAMTEL never communicates CRS activities, while 5.4% confirmed doing so, indicating the company’s CRS is low in newspapers.
He added that the perception of MTN’s image shows 28.6% of respondents shared poor rating, while 19.0% rated it strong.
The Candidate also found out that 23.8% of respondents rated Orange Cameroon as having a weak image, while 9.5% rated it strong.
Ngome in his recommendation called on the Cameroon parliament to mandate companies operating in Cameroon to invest more on the society through CRS activities.
He equally proposed that these companies and newspapers should sign contracts for the regular publication of their CRS activities.
The Verdict
Pronouncing the verdict, the President of the jury, Professor Mpoche Kizitus from the University of Douala, congratulated Ngome for the choice of a contemporary topic and for showing mastery of the subject.
He lauded the candidate for his significant work on corporate social responsibility which is often neglected.
After concerting with other jury members, Professor Mpoche awarded an excellent score of 17/20 to the candidate.
Other jury members include; Professor Thomas Atenga (supervisor), Associate Professor Andrew Eyoh Edjua (co-supervisor), Professor Madiba Oloko Georges, University of Douala, Professor Che Julius Tita, University of Buea, and Jumbo Léopold from the University of Dschang as rapporteurs.
It should be noted that Dr. Ngome, a lecturer in Corporate Communication at the University of Buea, also holds a Masters Degree in Corporate Communication from the same university.
He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Bilingual Letters, Translation and Linguistics from the University of Yaounde in 1983, a Diploma in Journalism, Communication and Linguistics in 1984 from the University of East Anglia, United Kingdom.
Dr. Blasius Ngome has eight books in his credit as author.
By Ahone Jessy
