Are you sure she was not a freshwoman at Howard University?

Don’t be silly, there is no such thing as a freshwoman. It’s called freshman, male or female

And the feminists agree?

I don’t know about that

What do you know? Oh, because some Indians are getting a kick from Kamala Harris Indian roots, you want to contrive a kick for yourself by throwing Nigeria into the mix after she was selected by Joe Biden to join him on the Democratic presidential ticket?

Not at all.

Then what’s your point? You must connect her with Nigeria, one way or another, abi?

Not necessarily.

I’m waiting to hear your point.

I want persons who may have been despairing about life in Nigeria to have hope

Mm. I hope you remember that famous statement credited to who I cannot now remember, which states that hope is not a winning strategy

With due respect, whoever made that statement was wrong. Hope is a strategy, indeed

I remember now, Rudy Giuliani, Hillary Clinton, Madeline Albright and Mitt Romney, have all used the phrase. Are you saying these powerhouses are wrong?

Yes, please but let’s not split hairs over personalities here. And let me quickly add that I am not advocating indifference and slackness. I am hoping we would not despair, despite what is happening right now

Praise the Lord. Did you go to church yesterday?

If you don’t believe in hope let others who do believe. If you don’t think things will change, let others who believe do

You dropped the name of Kamala Harris in the same sentence with former President Shehu Shagari, and got my attention immediately. But I wanted to be sure you weren’t going to run rings around me

Not at all. I became more interested in her roots and aspects of it that might inspire us after Joe Biden picked her. Considering the circumstances of her childhood, nobody looking at her in 1982, would have seen her where she is today.

You speak as if she her party has won the elections already

I know the elections are still far away but regardless of the outcome, her fans and supporters believe they already have major reasons to celebrate

Celebrate what exactly?

The measure of satisfaction enjoyed on the day of the coronation is usually not the same as what is enjoyed after giving your all to the fight.

Tell that to Nigerian politicians and hear what they will tell you

Aren’t you forgetting something?

Tell me, teacher.

How many leaders in the Democratic Party in 1982 are there today?

Your point exactly?

I want Nigerian undergraduates, especially today’s Jambite to draw the important lessons from the story of Kamala Harris and use them to project a similar future for tomorrow’s Nigeria

Don’t waste your time, my friend. Have you observed today’s Nigerian undergraduate closely?

How many have you interacted with one-on-one? How many have you spoken to in the last one week? What did you speak with them about?

Oh, please don’t waste your time, I repeat.

Do you not see how we are the people wasting their time by this posture and attitude?

They will survive, trust me

How?

Hope