The aircraft taxied down to the terminal. As it did, it became clear that this is not a land where greenery has found favour. On alighting from the aircraft and walking close to the terminal building, the first impression was: “a small but beautiful airport.”
That Sunday, there were no other planes on the runway, giving the impression that this is not a busy airport.
The glass fibre with which the walls of the terminal building were built shone like a million diamonds. Setting foot into the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana did not change the first impression. The floor shone as though they were made only the day before. The toilet was small but sparkling.
There were very few Immigration officials around further confirming that this is not a busy airport. The points at which visitors were stamped in were only four. Two of the airport officials were even sleeping on their desk when there was no work to do.
But the first impression about Botswana was almost marred when officials struggled through the process of issuing some visitors, including me, visas at the point of entry. It took us close to two hours to get this done. But the worst part was that even when we did, there was no electric means of printing our receipts so that we could get refund from the organisers of the conference we came for. We were told the system was down and asked to come for them the following day.
We left for the car park and only then did it make sense to us that Botswana was indeed in summer. The sun was hot and scorching. It bit our skins and we were almost sweating like goats about to be slaughtered. We made our way to an hotel in the heart of town, took a lunch of chicken, apple, sandwitch, wafer chocolate and drinks and began the journey to Palapye, the home of the Botswana International University of Science and Technology, where we would be for the next four days for a conference on science, technology and enterpreneurship. It was a journey I was not prepared to make. I had assumed we would pass the night in Gaborone. I passed the night at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya and barely slept. The four-hour trip by air to Gaborone was practically spent by me sleeping and wasting two hours at the airport further zapped me. So, it was a bad news being told we had to go to Palapye immediately. And Palapye was not small journey from Gaborone. It took all of three hours.
The good thing, however, was that none of the three hours was spent on traffic gridlock; no time was wasted avoiding potholes. There was no single pothole or manhole to avoid on the 270km road. It was smooth sailing all the way. The smoothness of the way covered up for the bad air-conditioning system in the bus that took us. Fresh breeze blew from the environment on the way to Palapye. Not a few found time to sleep but curiousity kept me awake. I wanted to see as much as possible of the countryside on the way to Palapye. It opened my mind to the fact that agriculture is not friendly with Botswana’s soil. The country experiences little rain. No wonder almost every prayer is ended with a call on God to send down the rain. Unlike other places where farms dot the way, there are just reluctant greenery and trees— sparse enough to see in between them. There are no thick forest. A lot of the people are into livestock farming. An official of BIUST said the country has more cattle than human beings, joking that if the country were truly democratic, cattle should emerge president.
On the right side of the road to Palapye are rail lines, which had no one selling on or close to them as we see in Lagos.
Aside Gaborone, the country’s other big city is Francistown, which is five hours by road from the federal capital. Perhaps its most important town is Jwaneng, the home to the richest diamond mine in the world. It is approximately 160km from the capital. The mine was opened in 1982 and the mine is the richest piece of real estate in the world. It produces 12 million carats of diamonds per year, where the country gets more than half of it revenue— though the industry is the second largest employer of labour.
Though not up to Lagos in population, with just two million people, Botswana has some land mass. Far above Lagos. So, its people do not live in compacted environment. They have free, fresh air to breathe, no wonder their life expectancy is far better than our own. Their road network is good to the extent that they can drive to Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Homes, offices and other structures in Gaborone, Palapye and other parts of this country do not have high walls. Many do not even have fences. Those who have make sure they are short enough for outsiders to see what is going on inside. Many use wire mesh to make their fences. Some use irons, with spaces in between the welding work, which are short enough for a toddler to jump over.
In Botswana, there is hardly failure of electricity. Thanks to its coal-fired power plant. Water sometimes goes off, which made our host advise that we store water. Though there were table water on sale, practically all the water supplied to Botswana home are good enough for drinking, with no fear of contracting pipe-borne diseases.
The streets are well-planned, with streetlights, walkways made of interlocking stones and medians glittering with well-cut stones. The drainages in the cities and towns are mostly covered and many even serve as the walkways. The bumps are made with interlocking stones in a creative manner that force a driver to have no choice but to wait.
Drivers and motorists obey traffic lights in the same manner they obey the words of the Anglican, Catholic and other priests who call the shots in the many churches that dot the Botswana landscape.
It was one of the poorest countries in Africa when it gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1966, with a GDP per capita of about US$70. The country has since transformed itself, becoming one of the fastest-growing economies in the world with a GDP per capita of about $14,000 and a high gross national income, possibly the fourth-largest in Africa. This gives the country a modest standard of living. The country has the second highest Human Development Index in Sub-Saharan African. Its currency Pula is stronger than South African rand. Twelve dollars give 100 Pula. Of course, the naira trails far behind.
Yet, Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country. It is flat. Up to 70 per cent of its land mass is covered by the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast. It also shares a not clearly defined border with Zambia to the north near a place called Kazungula. It is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world.
Its citizens refer to themselves as Batswana. The singular is Motswana. So, don’t call them Botswanians. They won’t answer you.
It used to be known as the British protectorate of Bechuanaland. It adopted its current name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on September 30, 1966. It has held uninterrupted democratic elections since independence. Its 1965 constitution led to the first general elections and to independence. Seretse Khama, a nationalist, was elected the first President, going on to be re-elected twice.His Vice-President, Quett Masire, was elected in 1984 and re-elected in 1989 and 1994. Masire retired from office in 1998 and was succeeded by Festus Mogae, who was elected in 1999 and re-elected in 2004. The presidency passed in 2008 to Ian Khama, the son of the first President, who was Mogae’s Vice-President since resigning his position in 1998. He was Commander of the Botswana Defence Force.
All its leaders have been produced by the Botswana Democratic Party. According to Transparency International, Botswana is the least corrupt country in Africa.
Its people are honest. I lost 240 Pula and it was brought back to me by the woman who saw it the following day. A Nigerian from the U.S. was shortpaid by a bank and was called to come and pick the shortfall.
So, will it be safe to say everything works in Botswana? Certainly not. Or how does one explain the fact that Immigration men could not print receipts for money already paid?
How does one explain the fact that Botswana had the highest life expectancy until HIV/AIDS began to reduce it in the late 1980s? One in six Batswana has HIV, giving the country the second highest infection rate in the world after Swaziland. That perhaps explains why hotels place Bible and condoms side by side in the rooms. Rising expenditure on healthcare services has led to budget deficit.
There is no doubt that the country has used its diamond wealth to better the lot of its people. It has not shield away from attracting the best brains, including Nigerians to help out. Its Botswana International University of Science and Technology in Palapye, is headed by a Nigerian, Prof. Hilary Inyang, who President Goodluck Jonathan will on December 5, honour with the Nigerian Merit Award. There are other Nigerians heading one department or the other in the university. Many are also in other organisations in the country. For the country, what matters is the bottom-line.
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