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Papers by Blessed E Ngoe

Routledge eBooks, Sep 12, 2023

The African Review, 2023

This essay examines the prefigurative politics that birthed and has sustained the Ambazonian revo... more This essay examines the prefigurative politics that birthed and has sustained the Ambazonian revolutionary movement and its war of independence in Cameroon. It uses Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to question the extent to which foundational value based Ambazonian discourses have lived up to the objectives of the movement’s founding. An analysis of speeches, official documents, and video content from Ambazonian leaders reveals that (1) the Ambazonian objective to secede from the state of Cameroon was initially discursively premised on prefigurative ideals, (2) the surge of radical discourses and the imprisonment of pioneer leaders of the movement prompted a deviation from the movement’s foundational goals, and (3) there is a need to reimagine the revolutionary alternative in the promised liberation of English-speaking Cameroonians.

This paper investigates Oroko Ideology as a thought system that is based on the unity of all thin... more This paper investigates Oroko Ideology as a thought system that is based on the unity of all things in the universe, prompting all that exists to exist. It seeks to establish a clear deviation where necessary from European or Western notions of existentialism, proving the negation of especially Sartrean and Kierkegaardian individualism in the African thought system as well as to establish the substantial seams that may be the node between African and Western notions of existence and reality. A number of philosophical notions among the Oroko people of Cameroon have been studied to provide an understanding of the people’s worldview as that which tilts on the appreciation of the universe as a cosmic family in which existence is based on the congruence of all things and not simply on the understanding of an existential self. The main conceptual referent in this paper is the concept of existentialism as proposed by several existential philosophers and from this paper’s novel concept of metacommunality. A number of written literature has been consulted to give the notions herein observed unity with other thought systems or parity where need be.
Key terms: existentialism, metacommunity, metacommunality, metacommunal existentialism, the Oroko people.

The question of kinship and how it impacts any given society has been given attention by sociolog... more The question of kinship and how it impacts any given society has been given attention by sociologists, anthropologists and literary creators either overtly or indirectly. This paper studies the African kinship structure and how it impacts on the performance or practice of rituals and taboos. It seeks to create a connection between the family and the concepts of moral and or religious responsibility in African societies. In the analysis, the paper looks at certain conceptions and beliefs which relate an individual to his or her family and which compel him to behave in a way that helps to maintain orderliness in the society. It also attempts a definition of the family within the constraints of the African society and brings forward the argument that Africa"s communal leanings have prompted for a certain level of interconnectedness between blood, religion and ethics in that all three elements intricately affect each other. The traditional African society has been looked at from an existentialist perspective with the strict emphasise that the African idea of being is inclusive and dependent on the individual"s social stances especially in relation to his fellow man and the supernatural. The paper focuses on the kinship structure of the Oroko people of Cameroon for the purpose of delimitation. It enjoins that the Oroko people have a defined kinship pattern which affects the people"s moral and religious behaviour. Divided into three main parts, the paper discusses certain conventions of the family in Oroko land, related taboos and the rituals performed in the case where these taboos are broken.

Books by Blessed E Ngoe

Decolonising Media and Communication Studies Education in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2024

This chapter explores the pervasive influence of Whiteness in communication studies and advocates... more This chapter explores the pervasive influence of Whiteness in communication studies and advocates for the decolonization of the field through the incorporation of Africa-centered epistemologies. It introduces Ekoaɗo, an ontological and epistemological concept rooted in the Oroko culture of Cameroon, as an alternative framework for understanding communication. Ekoaɗo challenges the dominant Euro-American models that prioritize individualism and the separation of speaker and message, proposing instead that communication is an embodied process of mutual recognition and acceptance within a community. By emphasizing the collective over the individual, Ekoaɗo redefines communication as a relational act that actualizes both the self and others through communal interaction. The chapter critiques the colonial legacies embedded in communication scholarship and pedagogy, arguing that the field's current frameworks perpetuate racial hierarchies and exclude non-Western voices. It calls for reevaluating communication theories and practices to include diverse perspectives and offers Ekoaɗo as a model for creating a more inclusive and democratized discipline. Through this decolonial lens, the chapter seeks to expand the field of communication studies to better reflect and serve the diverse experiences and knowledge systems of the Global South.

The Sinking Ship: A Critical Analysis of Multiculturalism in Postcolonial Cameroon, 2017

This chapter examines the concepts of place and displacement in postcolonial discourse as constru... more This chapter examines the concepts of place and displacement in postcolonial discourse as constructs of language, history and environment. The chapter maintains that the linguistic, historical and environmental formations designed by colonialist attitudes in the postcolony dictate the perceived place and space that groups within any postcolonial polity arrogate to themselves. After providing a modest overview of the concept of Postcoloniality and the criticism attending to it, the chapter focuses on African (Cameroonian) poetry and the novel to examine the concepts of place, displacement and consequently, identity as the merits of a country’s historical and cultural reality. In the end, I argue that the adherence to cultural and political splinter groups and the inevitable presence of asymmetric relationships between members of a given postcolony speak loudly in defining places and spaces for people, usually from a perspective that endangers nationhood. Critical arguments are drawn from Nol Alembong’s poem, ‘Forest Echoes’ and John N. Nkengasong’s novel, Across the Mongolo to demonstrate that the concepts of place and displacement are veritable pointers to the present cultural and political reality that is characteristic of the African postcolony.

Teaching Documents by Blessed E Ngoe

Oroko Literacy Project, 2020

These notes describe the nature of the nominative first person singular pronoun in the Oroko lang... more These notes describe the nature of the nominative first person singular pronoun in the Oroko language of Cameroon. The Oroko language belongs to the Sawabantu subgroup of northwestern Bantu languages native to Cameroon. It is spoken by about 200,000 natives in the Ndian and Meme divisions of southwestern Cameroon.

Routledge eBooks, Sep 12, 2023

The African Review, 2023

This essay examines the prefigurative politics that birthed and has sustained the Ambazonian revo... more This essay examines the prefigurative politics that birthed and has sustained the Ambazonian revolutionary movement and its war of independence in Cameroon. It uses Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to question the extent to which foundational value based Ambazonian discourses have lived up to the objectives of the movement’s founding. An analysis of speeches, official documents, and video content from Ambazonian leaders reveals that (1) the Ambazonian objective to secede from the state of Cameroon was initially discursively premised on prefigurative ideals, (2) the surge of radical discourses and the imprisonment of pioneer leaders of the movement prompted a deviation from the movement’s foundational goals, and (3) there is a need to reimagine the revolutionary alternative in the promised liberation of English-speaking Cameroonians.

This paper investigates Oroko Ideology as a thought system that is based on the unity of all thin... more This paper investigates Oroko Ideology as a thought system that is based on the unity of all things in the universe, prompting all that exists to exist. It seeks to establish a clear deviation where necessary from European or Western notions of existentialism, proving the negation of especially Sartrean and Kierkegaardian individualism in the African thought system as well as to establish the substantial seams that may be the node between African and Western notions of existence and reality. A number of philosophical notions among the Oroko people of Cameroon have been studied to provide an understanding of the people’s worldview as that which tilts on the appreciation of the universe as a cosmic family in which existence is based on the congruence of all things and not simply on the understanding of an existential self. The main conceptual referent in this paper is the concept of existentialism as proposed by several existential philosophers and from this paper’s novel concept of metacommunality. A number of written literature has been consulted to give the notions herein observed unity with other thought systems or parity where need be.
Key terms: existentialism, metacommunity, metacommunality, metacommunal existentialism, the Oroko people.

The question of kinship and how it impacts any given society has been given attention by sociolog... more The question of kinship and how it impacts any given society has been given attention by sociologists, anthropologists and literary creators either overtly or indirectly. This paper studies the African kinship structure and how it impacts on the performance or practice of rituals and taboos. It seeks to create a connection between the family and the concepts of moral and or religious responsibility in African societies. In the analysis, the paper looks at certain conceptions and beliefs which relate an individual to his or her family and which compel him to behave in a way that helps to maintain orderliness in the society. It also attempts a definition of the family within the constraints of the African society and brings forward the argument that Africa"s communal leanings have prompted for a certain level of interconnectedness between blood, religion and ethics in that all three elements intricately affect each other. The traditional African society has been looked at from an existentialist perspective with the strict emphasise that the African idea of being is inclusive and dependent on the individual"s social stances especially in relation to his fellow man and the supernatural. The paper focuses on the kinship structure of the Oroko people of Cameroon for the purpose of delimitation. It enjoins that the Oroko people have a defined kinship pattern which affects the people"s moral and religious behaviour. Divided into three main parts, the paper discusses certain conventions of the family in Oroko land, related taboos and the rituals performed in the case where these taboos are broken.

Decolonising Media and Communication Studies Education in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2024

This chapter explores the pervasive influence of Whiteness in communication studies and advocates... more This chapter explores the pervasive influence of Whiteness in communication studies and advocates for the decolonization of the field through the incorporation of Africa-centered epistemologies. It introduces Ekoaɗo, an ontological and epistemological concept rooted in the Oroko culture of Cameroon, as an alternative framework for understanding communication. Ekoaɗo challenges the dominant Euro-American models that prioritize individualism and the separation of speaker and message, proposing instead that communication is an embodied process of mutual recognition and acceptance within a community. By emphasizing the collective over the individual, Ekoaɗo redefines communication as a relational act that actualizes both the self and others through communal interaction. The chapter critiques the colonial legacies embedded in communication scholarship and pedagogy, arguing that the field's current frameworks perpetuate racial hierarchies and exclude non-Western voices. It calls for reevaluating communication theories and practices to include diverse perspectives and offers Ekoaɗo as a model for creating a more inclusive and democratized discipline. Through this decolonial lens, the chapter seeks to expand the field of communication studies to better reflect and serve the diverse experiences and knowledge systems of the Global South.

The Sinking Ship: A Critical Analysis of Multiculturalism in Postcolonial Cameroon, 2017

This chapter examines the concepts of place and displacement in postcolonial discourse as constru... more This chapter examines the concepts of place and displacement in postcolonial discourse as constructs of language, history and environment. The chapter maintains that the linguistic, historical and environmental formations designed by colonialist attitudes in the postcolony dictate the perceived place and space that groups within any postcolonial polity arrogate to themselves. After providing a modest overview of the concept of Postcoloniality and the criticism attending to it, the chapter focuses on African (Cameroonian) poetry and the novel to examine the concepts of place, displacement and consequently, identity as the merits of a country’s historical and cultural reality. In the end, I argue that the adherence to cultural and political splinter groups and the inevitable presence of asymmetric relationships between members of a given postcolony speak loudly in defining places and spaces for people, usually from a perspective that endangers nationhood. Critical arguments are drawn from Nol Alembong’s poem, ‘Forest Echoes’ and John N. Nkengasong’s novel, Across the Mongolo to demonstrate that the concepts of place and displacement are veritable pointers to the present cultural and political reality that is characteristic of the African postcolony.

Oroko Literacy Project, 2020

These notes describe the nature of the nominative first person singular pronoun in the Oroko lang... more These notes describe the nature of the nominative first person singular pronoun in the Oroko language of Cameroon. The Oroko language belongs to the Sawabantu subgroup of northwestern Bantu languages native to Cameroon. It is spoken by about 200,000 natives in the Ndian and Meme divisions of southwestern Cameroon.