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Small Thread| I will miss Nasser Ntege Ssebagala. They don't make them like that anymore. Just this week I was starting to write about the contradiction he embodied in relation to the debate about "academic papers" and qualifications btn supporters of Bobi Wine and YK Museveni
If there are two forces competing for moral and material space in the life of a #Ugandan it is the struggle to "buy a plot of land and build a house" alongside the busy activity involving the acquisition of "more papers", degrees, diplomas and certificates.
Combined as a singular ambition, they dominate entire lifetimes. The pursuit of plots of land and fresh papers for the latest profession ( there are many in my area of study #oil) set the upper limits of success. Then there is the Old School of Seya and the Hustler Club.
He once told me of visiting Africa Hall ( and benching future VP Dr Specioza Kazibwe) I suspect because despite his success as a trader and scion of a landed trading family - Seya was constantly forced to associate with "higher education". He faked it as much as he could.
In his day, as with the rest of the 1940's generation, a little education went a great distance but it is ambition, courage and commonsense that allowed someone to learn what he/she needed to make money and build a fortune ( before GoFundMe).
Seya was already a respected businessman, community leader and family man when he entered politics ( he recognized that organized politics was just another racket to make money) when upper society questioned his learning ( alongside his ethics).
Before Bobi Wine, he was pressured to remake himself as a British Educated progressive ( after a stint in jail) to return to politics even if his constituency saw him as a man of the street whose success showed any one from the street could rise.
He did not have a head of letters but he had been leading, making money and reinventing himself before universal primary and secondary education. Like all other innovators before him who are certified by their success not by the learning institution they attended.
I did not support him for Mayor ( on account of his ethics) but worked briefly and privately with him on his vision for an expanded Kampala and a beautification and building project he later never implemented because he was perfectly capable of understanding the city's problems.
The problem with the qualifications debate are several. Firstly I think there is a constitutional issue. Where power belongs to the people, the right to choose who to represent them should not be edited by statutes that impose qualifications they do not care for.
This applies to Bobi wine as well as Museveni or the late Seya. The second is that institutionalized learning ( the school system, tertiary institutions) are recent instruments to streamline and organize learning. They however don't represent all learning.
The spirit of learning, to be apprenticed to finding new knowledge, exists to those who want and need it everywhere including in classrooms. Ambition, courage, and commonsense are often enough to set anyone on their course. It would be sad to postpone ones dreams on account
Of not having the right papers. The deriding of street born successes has also lead some to question how useful education is leading to a dangerous anti-intellectualism. If Seya succeeded without much education some think it is not necessary.
This is also wrong. Those who mock " the ones who speak too much English" make the same mistake. To be educated is to value knowledge and to use it diligently in pursuit of your dreams. Getting more papers is great as long as they are tools you need on your journey.
I would never think YK Museveni underqualified for example because I have not seen his degree certificate. I can arrive at my own reasons for why he is not the leader we need right now that his degree or lack there of would not inform me.
In the same vein, do I need to hear that Bobi Wine requires new papers to merit his support? Should that fact determine how I estimate his performance in the highest office? Riyale! #RIPSeya
