The victory of Hillary Clinton as the presumptive nominee of Democratic Party in United States has been a subject of discussion across the world. VICTORIA OJUGBANA (with Agency report) reports on what her winning means for Africa.

Last Tuesday, the Democratic presidential candidate, Mrs. Hillary Clinton made history by winning elections that placed her as America’s first female presumptive presidential nominee.

Clinton had already secured the delegates needed for the nomination, according to media reports. And Bernie Sanders, her close rival, has vowed to work together with Mrs. Clinton to defeat the Republican candidate, Donald Trump.

“We’ve reached a milestone: The first time in our nation’s history that a woman will be a major party’s nominee,” Clinton told her supporters. “Tonight’s victory is not about one person. It belongs to generations of women and men who struggled and sacrificed and made this moment possible,” she added.

The presidential nominee, who said that she learnt from her late mother that life is about serving others, was a senator and secretary of state and has technically earned her status last Monday, after multiple media outlets projected that she had obtained firm commitments from enough Democratic super-delegates to secure the nomination at the party’s convention next month.

“This is the first time in history that a woman will be a major party’s nominee”, she said.

Experts on international relations have weighed in on the preliminary victory of Mrs. Clinton and its implication on Africa.

The Head, Department of Research and Strategic Studies, Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos, Prof. Charles Dokubo, said Mrs. Clinton is the most qualified candidate for the position. He said the fact that she was the former first lady of America, a senator and a two-time presidential candidate places her in a better position.

“Her qualification supersedes other contestants’ for the seat. Also, her position as a former secretary of state puts her in a better place for America’s presidency”.

Prof. Dokubo, who is also a research fellow, noted that the Democratic Party is more at ease with Africans in America.
Speaking on immigration issue, Prof. Dokubo said that many countries today are strict on allowing immigrants, adding that the fact that Mrs. Clinton is acceptable to African-Americans does not mean that if she eventually becomes the president, she will open America’s doors to all immigrants.

Similarly, a professor of International Relations and a research fellow at the NIIA, Prof. Osita Agbu, said that Africans and people from other races stand to benefit from Mrs. Clinton’s presidency because of the way the Democratic Party’s policy and programmes are structured. The party considers its social responsibility to the electorate.

As regards immigration to America, Prof. Agbu noted that everyone in America is an immigrant; hence Mrs. Clinton’s administration may not promote a hardline policy against immigration.

“Mrs. Clinton’s administration in the White House will give a listening ear to issues that have to do with Africans,” Prof. Agbu stressed.

Mrs. Clinton, whose victory came just three days after the 97th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote the following year in 1920, said in her speech that her mother was born on the same day as the amendment’s passage.

Her win was also eight years to the day after she conceded the 2008 Democratic presidential primary to Barack Obama, with a speech in which Mrs. Clinton famously declared that her supporters helped put “18 million cracks” in the “glass ceiling.”

Born Hillary Diane Rodham on October 26, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois, Mrs. Clinton was raised in Park Ridge, Illinois, a picturesque suburb located 15 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. Mrs. Hillary Clinton, who married a fellow law school graduate, Bill Clinton in 1975, served as first lady from 1993 to 2001, and then as a U.S. senator from 2001 to 2009.

In early 2007, Mrs. Clinton announced her plans to run for the presidency.

She was the eldest daughter of Hugh Rodham, a prosperous fabric store owner, and Dorothy Emma Howell Rodham and has two younger brothers, Hugh Jr. (born 1950) and Anthony (born 1954).

Mrs. Clinton, who attended Wellesley College where she was active in student politics and elected senior class president before graduating in 1969, also attended Yale Law School, where she met Bill Clinton.

Graduating with honours in 1973, Mrs. Clinton enrolled at Yale Child Study Centre, where she took courses on children and medicine and completed one post-graduate year of study.

This week, Mrs. Clinton is scheduled to campaign in Ohio and Pennsylvania, two major swing states in the general election.

“I want to congratulate Senator Sanders for the extraordinary campaign he has run,” she said, calling their primary battle “very good for the Democratic Party and for America.”

The former secretary of state immediately pivoted from her victory to a full bore assault on the presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and made a sweeping effort to reach out to Sanders supporters in an attempt to unify Democrats.

After winning the national election, President Obama appointed Mrs. Clinton secretary of state. She was sworn in as part of his cabinet in January 2009 and served until 2013. In the spring of 2015, she announced her plans to run again for the U.S. presidency.

“Her historic campaign inspired millions and is an extension of her lifelong fight for middle-class families and children,” a statement said.

“Thanks to you, we’ve reached a milestone,” she said during a speech in Brooklyn. “Tonight’s victory is not about one person. It belongs to generations of women and men who struggled and sacrificed and made this moment possible.”

Mrs. Clinton faced controversy and criticism when it was revealed that she had used her personal email address to handle official governmental business during her time as secretary of state. In a news conference held at the United Nations, speaking initially on gender equality and the political situation in Iran, Mrs. Clinton stated that she had utilised her personal email for convenience as allowed by state department protocol. She later turned over all governmental correspondence to the Obama administration while deleting messages that could be construed as personal.

After much speculation and assumptions over whether Clinton would run for the U.S. presidency, her plans were made official in the spring of 2015. On April 12, Clinton’s campaign chairperson, John D. Podesta, announced via email that the former secretary of state was entering the race to secure the Democratic presidential nomination for the 2016 elections. This was immediately followed by an online campaign clip, with Clinton herself announcing that she’s running for president at the end of the video. If successful, Clinton would be the first woman to become the President of the United States.