{SPECIAL REPORT} Life in Botswana, sign leadership ‘unkindness’, financial, political corruption, citizens loss of touch with values not nature of Africa

By KEMI KASUMU

If citizens get all that they deserve as citizens of their country and leaders stop deceiving the led with urge to sacrifice in hardship, while they (themselves) live large at their own level, why would anybody want to travel out abroad in search of greener pastures? That is the Bostwana experience reassuring that Africa is not all synonymous with wicked, unkind, uncaring leadership and citizens without honour and conscience.

At a time that all hope on Nigeria is lost with the continued hardship being experienced in the country, caused by unkind leadership still celebrated by victims of same unfair treatment, a searchlight beckons showing that what happens in the supposed Giant of Africa epitomises not nature of the continent. That beckon of hope is Bostwana.

Botswana Pays Students To Go To School

Saddening, however, is that whereas the people of Nigeria have every opportunity to call their leadership to order without having to truncate the democratic system, their seeming complete loss of touch with patriotism and national values push them to becoming slaves in their own land, masterminded not by anyone from outside but by leaders in their own land.

They made their political leaders see their weaknesses with money and anything to fill their stomachs and so each time they are awake to doing the right thing in choosing their befitting leaders in an election, those leaders throw them crumbs and they jump at it. Stomach Infrastructure is a crime against humanity by leaders, who promote it as political tool for winning election and sin to self and God by the cheated who accept the method from them.

It is, unfortunately, the reason their votes become meaningless and useless as, for their lack of commitment to purposeful selection of nominees and election of State managers of resources, the politicians who gave them crumbs are free to deploy guns carrying thugs who disrupt their elections, snatch their ballot boxes and still manipulate the collated results, compromise the electoral officials and thus undermine the electoral process.

Where the citizens know that their destiny is in their own hands and that they can shape it to make their lives better, then they must refuse to collect the bribes, if they choose to overcome politicians’ antics, and achieving this is simple. Chase them away with their money, inhuman palliatives and so called economic empowerment that empowers with nothing, and resolve to go all out and vote with resolve to protect your votes and stand firm with them up to collation centres at all levels, ignoring and preparing fully to resist all threats coming from political thugs and deprivation by security agents and INEC officials’ biases. Stop running away from them under the guise of “I don’t want to die”.

This is the only and most constitutionally viable way for Nigerians to retrieve their country from “unkind” leadership. Self-defence. How many people will they kill? They know some of the citizens fear a lot, that is where the use of thugs succeeds. It should not be. They capitalise on your easy acceptance and fall for their “go to court” deceptive mantra. No. Before that, as a people, like it is your civic right to vote, you also have the responsibility to defend and protect that vote.

As law abiding citizens, you can overpower political thugs, especially where security agents choose to compromise, if you plan well and prepare yourselves in wait for them. Imagine with ordinary (pankere) canes and Oro occultism, Nigerian citizens in Lagos were chased away from polling units during the governorship election of 2023: (US Department of State Report). A people that want better country cannot be cowed by that except there is individualistic self interest at stake.

To be like the Botswanan people, where life is made sweet, easy and better on same land of the black without having to travel to the East or West, Nigerians need to quickly do a character check on and attitudinal reconstruction of themselves. No citizens must gloat over being hoodlums, touts or thugs, neither anyone give a damn abot conspiracy and complacent over unhealthy saying of “who wan die” and so let everything go with political corruption at elections.

Those are anti-development projects that Nigerians nust begin to avoid, if they need a real change. Kano State people did it to have Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.  Now, Rivers electorates have done it to have a new dawn of political arena across their local councils with Governor Siminalayi Fubara. If Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State had chosen to do things with his people, he would not go alone to the INEC Headquarters in Benin City and results of the elections would not havevturned controversial as they became.

Some would say a country of 2 million plus population cannot be compared to one which true population is not even exactly known but premised on mere hypothesis – 200 million. However, the question that is then asked, is population size the cause  problem of Nigeria? And answer is not farfetched. No. The cause of problem of Nigeria is simply selfish leadership.

Currently in Nigeria, amidst the hardship and suffering of the people, not only that government officials from top to bottom live large on state money, there is a lot of cases where appointees acquire assets that are not commiserate with their earnings and tgey cannot justify. Sadly, however, from among the same suffering populace many roll out drums and spend from their hard-earned meagre earnings to buy data and use same to dominate tge social media singing the praises of the same polutical leaders who are responsible for their current condition, because of crumbs that drop on their hands.

This, Nigeria has become a country that every citizen is not happy to celebrate and is willing to leave and flee to other land for greener pastures. When they talk they claim the problem in Nigeria is global and to judtifybthat claim they mention COVID-19, from which President Muhammadu Buhari had since concluded and lifted the country out.

But is it the nature of African leadership that political leaders will be unkind towards the people they lead? Bostwana experience has proved that question negative.

Botswana, a landlocked country in Southern Africa, is a fantastic country which citizens have no reason to think about traveling to anywhere for greener pasture.

With a landscape defined by the Kalahari Desert and the Okavango Delta, which becomes a lush animal habitat during the seasonal floods, Bostwana, a Southern Africa country, is bordered by four neighbouring countries namely Namibia to the West and North (the Caprivi Strip), Zambia and Zimbabwe to the North-East, and South Africa to the South-East and South.

With a population of slightly over 2.63 million million people (2022) World Bank and a comparable land area to France, Botswana is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. It is essentially the nation-state of the Tswana people, who constitute nearly 80 per cent of the population.

The country, ruled by President Mokgweetsi Masisi, spends Botswanan Pula as its currency, English as its official Language, national telephone dialing code as +267 and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) $20.36 billion (2022) World Bank.

20 facts about Bostwana 🇧🇼

1. In Botswana, citizens get free land, free healthcare and free education.

2. University students receive $154 in allowances monthly.

3. It has low debt.

4. It has Africa’s best Police service.

5. It is an upper middle income country.

6. It has Africa’s highest credit rating.

7. It is one of the safest countries in Africa.

8. Citizens have visa free access or visa on arrival status to 87 countries including the UK.

9. Citizens offered loans (50%grants for youth) to start businesses.

10. Botswana is a landlocked nation located in Southern Africa. The country covers an area of 224,610 sq mi and has a population of , 2,346,179 (2022 Census) makes it one of the least densely populated in the world.

11. Botswana Has Africa’s Highest Concentration Of Elephants
Botswana is home to approximately 130,451 elephants.

12. Over 70% Of Botswana’s Total Area Is Desert

13. One Of The Seven Natural Wonders Of Africa Is Located In Botswana
The Okavango Delta is a massive inland delta located in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana. Formed by the Okavango River. Also designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

14. Botswana Is Africa’s Oldest Continuous Democracy

15. Botswana Is The Best Place To See Meerkats In The Wild
Meerkats are small carnivorans from the mongoose family.

16. Botswana Is One Of The World’s Biggest Diamond Producers
Botswana is the world’s second largest producer of diamonds.

17. The Name Of Botswana’s Currency Means “Rain”

The pula is the currency of Botswana. The word pula literally means “rain” in the local Setswana language. Since much of Botswana is desert, rainfall is a rare event in the country, and is therefore highly valuable and considered to be a blessing.

18. Botswana Is Nature-Friendly
Approximately 38% of Botswana’s territory is protected as national parks, sanctuaries, reserves, and wildlife management areas.

19. Botswana Contains One Of The World’s Largest Salt Pans
Located in the dry savanna of north-eastern Botswana, the Makgadikgadi Pan is one of the largest salt pans in the world (The Cradle of Mankind

20. Botswana is a former British Protectorate (then Bechuanaland) that gained independence in 1966.

If citizens get all that they deserve as citizens of their country and leaders stop deceiving the led with urge to sacrifice in hardship, while they (themselves) live large at their own level, why would anybody want to travel out abroad in search of greener pastures? That is the Bostwana experience reassuring that Africa is not all synonymous with wicked, unkind, uncaring leadership and citizens without honour and conscience.