Princess Agunbiade, from Ekiti State and the current Miss Grand Nigeria 2017 has had high hopes of becoming a beauty queen since she was a child. But she was to win her first beauty crown at the age of 17, having started at 16. Then there was a lull, that saw her battling to win the confidence of her parents and the knocks of the pageantry world itself. However, she won the crown of Miss Grand Nigeria after having lost the first time she tried. She represented Nigeria at the Miss Grand International pageant in Vietnam in 2017 but failed to bring the crown home. Here, she speaks of her experiences, expectations and projections.

By ADETUTU ADESOJI

What is the Miss Grand beauty pageant about and what does it stand to achieve?

The Miss Grand beauty pageant is a contest with the advocacy that focuses on ‘Stop the War and Violence.’ Miss Grand International queens go to countries that have been affected by war and violence to donate relief materials to people that have been affected. They also promote peace and spread happiness. At the end of the contest all the national queens, whether they win or not are expected to go back to their countries and do something to stop war and violence or help people who have been victims of war and violence. That is why every queen must go back to her country and start a personal pet project. I will focus on education. I think education is not our major problem, there are other problems in Nigeria other than lack of education, but I feel that if people are educated enough they won’t feel hopeless enough to be used easily as political thugs or shipped away to foreign countries to be used as slaves or prostitutes.  I will provide something called the basic back to school starter pack that consists of school bag, sandals, stockings and books and writing materials , free education does not include these things. I will enroll them in schools so that they will be on their way to becoming a part of us and will not feel hopeless and will not pose a threat to other citizens of the country. I will not stop there, after enrolling these kids I will also empower at least one person from their families, either the father, mother or siblings in order to support the family and also meet the needs of these children so that they can complete their education and not stop half way.

How would you get funds to execute this?

I work, so I intend to use a part of my money but of course I don’t have enough money to do everything. With the help of my management, the office of Miss Grand Nigeria, we will reach out to some well-meaning organizations, some government and non governmental organizations also.

Will this project be done  in one year  or will you continue after your reign?

I will continue the project even after my reign as queen but I’m going to start now because using the office of the Miss Grand Nigeria to get the project done is the idea of having a title and a crown in the first place. I will kick start with this platform, it will be a great start.

Princess Agunbiade

What do you think was the key factor that made you lose the crown at the Miss grand International?

The first thing is lack of preparation in every aspect. In any pageant there is a whole lot they look out for before crowing their queen. They look out for physical fitness, which is very important, that is why they have the swim suit segment. It is not just to show girls clad in bikinis, it is to know how fit they are and see how much work they have put in for the contest. They also want to see advocacy, they want to know what you have done back in your country. They want to see how you relate with your fellow contestants , the way you behave in camp and all that. They also want to see how prepared you are for any interview. You wouldn’t know if it is the organization or other stations, these interviews are to show how prepared you are and how much you know about their international contest and also how much you know about your country because you will be asked about your country as well. They look out for styling as well. Lack of preparation was my undoing. I arrived for the contest ten days late and I was also unfit, I should have registered with a trainer. There are pageant workouts that I should have done. This is not just about me but about every Nigerian girl that is sent out to an international contest. I was in the midst of about 76 other contestants and I was among the least prepared contestants, what was my chance really? There was poor media coverage and I also had a fan base that was not enough, other people put in more work in these areas. They have managers that handle their social media pages. People don’t even know about the Miss Grand pageant in Nigeria, beauty pageants are not paid attention to generally in Nigeria. People still do not see the need for pageants, they feel it is a waste of time but it is not, I must say. Other countries do not see pageants as a waste of time but in Nigeria we see it that way. There is a goldmine in beauty pageantry that we need to uncover.

You talked about Nigerians not seeing the goldmine in pageantry, what exactly are you referring to?

I’m referring to the importance of beauty pageants in our country. It is a goldmine because it can contribute to the economy of the country through tourism. It is also a way to empower young ladies in Nigeria, for instance when I went for Miss Nigeria in 2015 although I didn’t win, I learnt a lot from the contest. There was a Bank of Industry summit and I learnt a lot about  entrepreneurship.  That formed a huge part of my entrepreneurship quest today. All my businesses that I have done till date, I have used the experience I got from that summit. It also strengthens relationships between countries, for example, Thailand strengthens their relationship with other countries because they have their own beauty pageant. Miss Grand International is a Thailand based pageant. Other countries are friends with Thailand because of Miss Grand International pageant. It increases the visibility of a country, Nigeria is a popular country but most people know Nigeria for the wrong reasons, pageants can be used to change the face of Nigeria, it can showcase Nigeria in a better light.

What are most memorable from your experience of participating in the pageant in Vietnam?

Winning Miss Grand Nigeria made me to participate in the International contest that took place in Vietnam in 2017. The highlight for me was everyone calling me Nigeria, being called Nigeria as oppose to being called Princess made me realize that I was not only wearing my country’s band but I was a window through which people saw Nigeria. 76 others girls and chaperons have probably not been to Nigeria before, I had to make them see Nigeria through me. I had to coordinate myself in a way that showed Nigeria in a very good light. It was a responsibility that was not very easy because there were times I was stressed in camp and just wanted to snap but I couldn’t because I was Nigeria and Nigeria doesn’t snap or frown. In everything I did I made sure I did it well so that people would see my country as that country where everything is all good and great. I also noticed that everybody had different perceptions about Nigeria and Africa, they think Africa is all ancient and filled with camels.

People were asking me all sorts of funny questions. They didn’t know we have make-up brands in Nigeria and I told them we have amazing makeup brands in Nigeria, I mean we don’t just wear makeups, we produce makeups. I had to correct so many wrong impressions, they even told me that they didn’t know there were girls like me in Nigeria, they expected black and very fat girls. I was very proud that people called me Nigeria, it was big deal for me.