By Benjamin Njoku

Newly crowned Miss Tourism Nigeria, Joy Ekekwe said her mission is to pursue such projects that will help to lift many Nigerians out of poverty during her reign.

She also said she will be partnering with necessary authorities in the tourism sector “to promote Nigeria and let the world experience our rich and beautiful country through me”.

Ekekwe, a financial educator and entrepreneur from Abia State, made these remarks while being crowned at the 11th Miss Tourism Nigeria contest organized by QHUE Concepts held recently in Lagos. She said she was very confident about winning this year’s pageant, having prepared and prayed.

Sharing her experience in the keenly contested pageant, the beauty queen noted that pageants have evolved over the years, and it takes more than looks now to wear the crown.

Describing herself as an entrepreneur, she said she is a trained food processor and is the founder of Heldi Global Products, a NAFDAC certified meat processing company that produces, supplies and exports beef jerky popularly known as Kilishi.

“We export to the UK, US, Canada, Dubai, Cameroon, Ghana and also supplies to supermarkets in Nigeria. We also have over 30 independent distributors”, she said.

With this win, Miss Ekekwe will in July be heading to Sri Lanka to represent Nigeria in the Miss World Tourism, where she will compete with over 60 beauty queens from other countries.

She’s a holder of two degrees in Mass Communication and Business Administration