PhD holders should show their worth

There is no doubt that Julius Nyerere (Baba wa Taifa) and Nelson Mandela (Madiba) are among the best leaders the world has ever produced. These great Africans had many things in common.

They were extremely gifted academically though, they never boasted to anyone about their witty brains. Having received his teaching diploma from Makerere University in 1947, Baba wa Taifa returned to Tanganyika and taught Biology and English at St Mary’s Secondary School in Tabora.

He received a government scholarship to attend the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated with a Master’s of Arts degree in economics and history in 1952. The degree of Master of Arts in Scotland refers to an undergraduate academic degree equivalent to an English BA in the arts, liberal arts, humanities or social sciences awarded by one of the ancient universities in Scotland.

Madiba had similar academic qualifications. Having struggled at the primary and secondary school level, Madiba began work on a BA degree at Fort Hare University. He got caught up in a student boycott to do with the quality of food and was temporarily suspended. He eventually left without a degree. He later joined Witwatersrand University and qualified with a law degree in 1942.

Unfortunately, Africa is now changing and politics is basically a cash cow—a business venture that generates a steady stream of profits that far exceed the outlay of cash required to acquire or start it.

Our academics, once respected, got tired of their measly salaries as university professors and lecturers and are now increasingly finding their way into politics through competitive campaigns or direct nominations. But who can blame them when it is common knowledge that it is only in politics that one can make easy cash?

If a professor who also happens to be a politician can easily make Sh1.6 billion from a so-called friend, why get stuck in the same job for decades when your salary is only Sh3.5 million a month?

Unfortunately, this desire for quick cash has reduced their academic achievements to useless papers. In the end, their reasoning capacity diminishes to the point where they are as good as secondary school students.

Much as there is no problem with PhD holders going into politics, they must also understand that we expect them to perform beyond what every Tom, Dick and Harry offers.

Instead of getting satisfied with their doctorates, they could follow in the footsteps of Nyerere and Mandela, who chose lifelong learning over accumulating material things and academic papers. Nyerere authored a number of books.

Despite his busy schedule as head of state, he found the time to translate William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and The Merchant of Venice. Madiba kept studying even when he was a prisoner on Robben Island.

We also expect our learned politicians to translate their academic papers into leadership acumen. Instead of moaning that someone forgot to address them with the right formal title, their doctorates would have more meaning if they were to demonstrate meaningful and effective leadership.

Nyerere developed an interest in connecting socialism with African communal living during his time in Edinburgh. He did not let that theoretical approach to development end up gathering dust on the shelves.

He put it into practice. As the Austrian-born management guru Peter Drucker puts it, no institution can possibly survive if it needs geniuses or supermen to manage it. It must be organised in such a way that it can get along under the leadership of average human beings.

Nyerere and Mandela started out as activists. With a clear vision of what their societies needed, they were able to win everyone over to their line of reasoning—and managed to tap into the wisdom of every Tom, Dick and Harry. This is the kind of leadership and drive that Africa needs.

Mr Kamndaya is Business Editor for The Citizen