By Benjamin Njoku

KICKING off with a cultural display and performances, the 40th edition of the prestigious Miss Nigeria created nothing but an evening to remember.

With the Eko Convention Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, filled to capacity, cheers echoed from every corner of the expansive hall.

Shouting for their favourite contestant, audience members appeared to be ready for the winner to be crowned even before the show started. Cat walks took the centre stage and everyone in the audience was full of expectation. But it was not surprising that at the end of the night, Chioma Stephanie Obiadi who represented Anambra State, was crowned the 40th Miss Nigeria Queen.

The star-studded event included a fashion show courtesy Studio 24 StyleSquad official photographers of Miss Nigeria 2016, stellar performances by Tekno, Ebisan, the valedictory speech of the outgoing queen Leesi Pamela Peter-Vigboro and a host of other entertaining acts.

The Miss Nigeria 2016 pageant had Judges including Mai Atafo, Rita Dominic, Ibinabo Fibersima, Kunle Afolayan, Chioma Ude, Yemi Keri, Ezinne Akudo Anyooha, Binta Sukai, Lanre’daSilva- Ajayi, Mukta Daniyan, Biola Alabi, Debola Williams, Arc. Adejumobi Adenowo, Funke Egbemode, Adaobi Nwakuche, and Dupe Olusola as they determined who deserves the coveted Miss Nigeria crown. At the end of the show, Miss Chioma emerged winner, beating 36 other contestants and smiling home with a brand new Hyundai Grand Accent from Studio 24, an all-expense paid trip to France courtesy Air France, one year free accommodation, complete style and beauty make over and N3 million.

The new queen will go on to represent Nigeria at the Miss Intercontinental pageant next year as she works on the Green-Girl project – A Miss Nigeria Initiative. The Green- Girl project is a community development initiative aimed at empowering young women to become agents of sustainable environment in Nigeria. With the Green-Girl Project, she will be engaging young people and girls in schools/communities across Nigeria.

From all indications, this year’s Miss Nigeria was a huge success following testimonies from the attendees. Some of the attendees confessed that it was the best-organized Miss Nigeria since its revival. The audience were engaged until the end of the pageant unto the after party sponsored by Baileys. The venue for the pageant was a magnificent and classy one. The theme of the evening was centred on Heritage Bank’s campaign #IamProudOfMyHeritage with the focus of this year’s pageant on the Edo culture. All the contestants pronounced their support for their heritage and were all geared up in the Benin maiden costume for their dance performance which was spectacular.

Miss Nigeria as a heritage and empowerment platform for young women. In her speech, she expressed how beauty pageant gave her the platform to pursue a successful career/academic attainment and how she expects the same for future beauty queens. She also added that the success of this year’s edition of Miss Nigeria is just a start of a better and consistent pageant that will continue to grow from strength to strength.

This year’s pageant has really raised the bar for the Miss Nigeria Organisation and it is the expectation of those who witnessed the enjoyable event that the organisers will continue to maintain and surpass the standard from now on.

Amongst the praises showered on the organisers of the pageant was that of Chief Aremo Olusegun Osoba (former Governor of Ogun State and former Editor and Managing Direction of Daily Times), who lauded the organisers for keeping the show alive. “I must commend the organisers for keeping our memories alive: we would have been the forgotten ones…”. The event marked the 88th birthday of the first ever Miss Nigeria, Mama Oyelude who was honoured with a birthday rendition by all the guest of the 40th Miss Nigeria.

The Director of the Miss Nigeria organisation Dr May Ikeora, who introduced the Green-Girl documentary shown to the audience, reemphasized the importance of sustaining Miss Nigeria as a heritage and empowerment platform for young women. In her speech, she expressed how beauty pageant gave her the platform to pursue a successful career/academic attainment and how she expects the same for future beauty queens. She also added that the success of this year’s edition of Miss Nigeria is just a start of a better and consistent pageant that will continue to grow from strength to strength.

This year’s pageant has really raised the bar for the Miss Nigeria Organisation and it is the expectation of those who witnessed the enjoyable event that the organisers will continue to maintain and surpass the standard from now on.