Nation Media Group Staff Tell Management, 'Without A University Degree You Are Automatically Incompetent': True Or False?

The recent troubles at the Nation media group that were mainly triggered by the management's attempts to downsize the editorial department but which led to the exposure of an alleged sex-for-promotion scandal highlights the arrogance of many university graduates in Kenya today.

One of the complaints in the open letter that was posted on the Internet was that some staff members did not see the sense in reporting to news editors who were "Form Six graduates". It was clear that they found it demeaning for them to do so when they were degree holders themselves.

In fact this attitude is rampant in Kenyan companies and organizations.

With the kind of attitude those junior reporters have at the Nation Media Group, chances are that they will never make a mark in the journalism profession or in any other profession. If for example they cared to investigate carefully the tradition of great and exceptional Fleet Street journalists in the United Kingdom, they would quickly realize that many of the best never saw the inside of a university.

In a way I had the same prejudice when I undertook a consultancy mission at a major corporate company in Kenya to build a new marketing department from scratch, about four years ago. The CEO asked my opinion on what hiring policy I though was best. Without thinking I blurted out that I would consider university graduates only. Several people present at the meeting immediately shot down that suggestion with examples of various star performers in the company who were NOT university graduates. As I embarked on the project, I quickly discovered that they were absolutely right. University graduates in Kenya are extremely arrogant and you can hardly learn anything when you are carrying around a "swollen head." Not to mention the fact that the cost of education in Kenya is such that a high number of these proud graduates were educated with corruption money and embezzled public funds (nothing to be proud about there).

This arrogance seeped through an article written by a Nation reporter on Police commissioner Ali soon after his appointment that emphasized (in a subtle way) the fact that he did not go beyond the old Form four. Yet the current chief of police is the most qualified Kenyan to ever hold that office.

Sadly many people in decision-making positions in Kenya today have the same attitude I had four years ago and are very strict about not employing non-graduates. The result is that a huge industry in forged certificates and degrees has emerged in the country today. And these managers miss a lot of raw talent out there that would have greatly impacted their bottom line.

The truth of the matter is that we are in the information age and the information order has been altered dramatically. For example search engine culture is such that anybody with Internet access has access to any information they may need at any time of the day or night. And they can get it in milliseconds. What this means is that basic talent and intelligence can be much more effective out there in the market place than just a university degree.

It is instructive that the richest man in the world today, Bill Gates did not complete his degree at Harvard and instead dropped out to launch his Microsoft empire.

A colleague has just cheekily reminded me that according to him the primary school educated President Moi was a much more efficient and crafty president than London School of Economics and Makerere University alumni President Kibaki has been. The latter cannot even do corruption efficiently like Moi did and was caught with his pants down over the Anglo Leasing saga. Moi's detractors have been hard pressed to link him to Goldenberg.

LOL! That's funny.

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