Cameroon’s Award Culture: Are We Truly Recognising Excellence, or Merely Rewarding Visibility? Cleatine Asongwe questioned.

Awards and public recognition have become increasingly visible in Cameroon, appearing at conferences, public ceremonies, professional events and across social media platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn. For many professionals, activists, entrepreneurs and young leaders, awards have become an important way of highlighting achievements and building public profiles.

But according to Cameroonian youth leader Cleatine Asongwe, who doubles as a Diplomat and Political Adviser with background in International Law and International Relations, as published on his Facebook Page, the growing prominence of awards also raises an important question: Are we genuinely recognising excellence, or are we increasingly rewarding visibility?

Asongwe argues that he is not opposed to awards or public recognition. Rather, he believes that awards should remain connected to demonstrable achievements, meaningful contributions and transparent selection processes.

His concerns touch on a broader issue about how societies define success and how young people learn to measure professional and social value.

“I am not against awards. People who are doing good work should be recognised. But I am worry when an award starts to speak louder than the work itself.”

When recognition becomes louder than achievement

Awards can serve an important social function. They can motivate individuals, encourage innovation, celebrate exceptional contributions and draw public attention to work that might otherwise remain unnoticed.

For young people in particular, recognition can provide encouragement at a time when many struggle to find opportunities, resources and platforms to demonstrate their abilities.

However, Asongwe believes that recognition becomes problematic when the award itself becomes more important than the achievement it is supposed to represent.

In an increasingly digital society, professional identity is often constructed through online profiles, public appearances and social media communication. A person’s list of awards can quickly become one of the most visible aspects of their professional identity.

This creates a potential danger: visibility can begin to be mistaken for competence. Someone who is frequently featured online, attends numerous conferences or receives several awards may appear highly accomplished. Yet visibility alone does not necessarily demonstrate the quality, consistency or impact of a person’s work.

For Asongwe, the distinction is important. The question should not simply be, How many awards has this person received? It should also be, What has this person actually accomplished? Who has benefited from their work? What problems have they helped solve? And can those achievements be independently demonstrated?

The awards are not the problem

There is nothing inherently wrong with celebrating achievement. In fact, credible awards can contribute positively to society. They can create role models, encourage professionalism and inspire others to pursue excellence.

A well-designed award can also bring attention to people working in areas that receive little public recognition. The challenge, therefore, is not the existence of awards but the credibility of the process behind them.

Who nominated the recipient?

What criteria were used?

Who selected the winners?

Was there an independent judging panel?

Was the nominee’s work verified?

Were conflicts of interest properly managed?

And perhaps most importantly, can members of the public understand why a particular person received the recognition? These questions matter because awards carry social meaning. Once attached to a person’s name, an award can influence how that person is perceived by employers, donors, institutions, colleagues and the wider public.

If the process is transparent and the achievement is genuine, recognition can strengthen public confidence. If the process is unclear, however, an award can create an impression of excellence without sufficient evidence to support it.

When visibility becomes the work

Social media has fundamentally changed the way achievements are communicated. Today, professionals and organisations can document their activities instantly. Projects can be photographed, events livestreamed and achievements shared with thousands of people within minutes.

This has obvious benefits. Good work should be communicated. People need to know what organisations, professionals and community leaders are doing. Visibility can help attract partnerships, resources and opportunities.

But there is a difference between communicating work and replacing work with communication. Asongwe warns that awards can sometimes become another instrument for personal branding, particularly when the public conversation focuses more on titles and accolades than on measurable outcomes.

A person may have numerous certificates, titles and awards attached to their name, but those distinctions do not automatically establish competence.

Competence is ultimately demonstrated through performance. A teacher demonstrates competence by helping students learn. A medical professional demonstrates competence through quality service and patient care. A lawyer demonstrates competence through professional practice and effective representation. A researcher demonstrates competence through rigorous research and useful knowledge. A community leader demonstrates competence by helping address real problems affecting the people they serve.

The award may recognise those achievements.

It cannot substitute for them.

The quiet contributors who rarely receive awards

One of the most important concerns raised by Asongwe is that excessive attention to awards could cause society to overlook people whose contributions are substantial but largely invisible. Across Cameroon, countless individuals contribute to their communities without receiving formal recognition.

• Teachers educate generations of children without appearing on newspaper front pages.
• Health workers serve communities under difficult conditions without receiving prestigious titles.
• Community volunteers assist vulnerable families without expecting ceremonies.
• Civil servants sometimes work to improve public services without having their names attached to major achievements.
• Parents, social workers, community organisers, farmers, entrepreneurs and local leaders may make significant contributions that never translate into an award.

Their absence from award ceremonies does not mean their work is less valuable. Indeed, Asongwe’s argument invites society to reconsider what it means to recognise excellence. If recognition consistently goes to those who are most visible rather than those producing the greatest impact, society risks creating a distorted picture of achievement.

The danger for young people

The debate becomes particularly significant when viewed from the perspective of young Cameroonians. Young people observe what society celebrates. If awards, titles and public visibility become the dominant indicators of success, young people may conclude that obtaining recognition is more important than developing competence. This could encourage a culture in which people seek certificates before experience, titles before expertise and publicity before measurable results.

Asongwe summarises the concern in a powerful observation: “announce yourself first, prove yourself later.” For a country facing significant social, economic, governance and development challenges, that would be an unfortunate lesson.

Cameroon needs young people who are prepared to acquire skills, solve problems, create opportunities and serve their communities, not simply accumulate titles. Recognition should therefore encourage substantive achievement rather than become an end in itself.

What should credible awards look like?

The debate does not require Cameroon to abandon awards. Instead, it points to the need for greater integrity and transparency in recognition systems. Credible award platforms could consider several principles.

• First, selection criteria should be clearly published. Nominees and the public should understand what constitutes excellence within a particular category.
• Second, achievements should be verifiable. Claims about projects, impact, leadership or professional contributions should, where appropriate, be supported by evidence.
• Third, judging processes should be transparent and credible. Independent panels and clear conflict-of-interest policies can strengthen confidence in the outcome.
• Fourth, recognition should focus on impact rather than popularity alone. Social media following, public visibility or personal branding should not automatically be treated as evidence of substantive achievement.
• Finally, award organisers should recognise different forms of contribution. Excellence does not always happen on a stage or in front of cameras.

Recognition should serve society

Asongwe also reflects on his own experiences with academic, leadership and professional development opportunities. Rather than viewing such opportunities simply as badges of status, he says he considers them spaces where he was challenged, exposed to new ideas and encouraged to become more serious about his work.

That distinction is significant. Education, professional development and leadership opportunities are valuable not merely because they can enhance a person’s profile, but because they can strengthen the person’s ability to contribute meaningfully to society.

The same principle should apply to awards. A meaningful award should be a reflection of work already done, not a replacement for work yet to be demonstrated.

A call for a culture of earned recognition

Cameroon’s growing award culture reflects a society that wants to celebrate achievement. That instinct should not be discouraged. People who work hard, innovate, serve their communities and produce positive change deserve recognition.

But recognition is most meaningful when it is earned, transparent and connected to measurable contribution. The country needs a culture that celebrates not only those who appear on stages, but also those working quietly behind the scenes.

It needs to celebrate the teacher who transforms a classroom, the health worker who serves vulnerable communities, the researcher who produces useful knowledge, the entrepreneur who creates employment, the activist who defends rights and the community leader who solves problems without seeking applause.

Ultimately, the question is not whether Cameroon should have awards. The more important question is what those awards are teaching society to value.

If awards celebrate genuine achievement, they can inspire excellence. If they primarily reward visibility, they risk creating an illusion of excellence.

Asongwe’s central message is therefore a call for balance: recognition matters, but competence must remain at the centre. Awards may open doors. But it is the quality, integrity and impact of one’s work that should determine whether those doors remain open.

For Cameroon, the challenge is not to stop celebrating success. It is to make sure that what we celebrate is worthy of the celebration.