‘Why our pageant’ll exhibit African attire’
This event is organised in such a way that it focuses on academic achievements, activities, personality, poise and appearance in formal traditional attire. This is with the hope that it will boost the confidence of the Nigerian woman, blessed with genuine beauty and brains. The pageantry sternly frowns at the peddling of female flesh as […]
This event is organised in such a way that it focuses on academic achievements, activities, personality, poise and appearance in formal traditional attire. This is with the hope that it will boost the confidence of the Nigerian woman, blessed with genuine beauty and brains. The pageantry sternly frowns at the peddling of female flesh as it is often seen in most beauty competition. And as such would not have a swim suit display or any display of scantily clad contestants. The idea is to drag focus to intellect and IQ of the contestants in our bid to show that the female folk are in no way inferior to their male counterparts and as such just as much to offer the nation in view of the quest to maintain its Vision 20: 2020.
We are also different in the sense that scholarly inclinations are usually not thought of in the same package with charm and beauty. We want to explore the intellectual capacity of each participant, encouraging patriotism, compassion and the pursuit of educational accomplishments especially as regards the girl-child. We hope this would open up a new vista where the idea that beauty contests are used for objectifying women and the tendency for the contest to encourage eating disorders in ladies would be changed and focus to the fact that the woman has not just the right packaging but the intellect to carry her through to whatever heights she aspires to reach.
Why did you choose this line of pageantry rather than the conventional type?
There are three major reasons why we decided on this. One was to promote important issues. To expose them to the relevance of volunteering, participating in public appearances, delivering speeches, asides other areas like event planning. All of it is to help them to build a personal platform and help the beauty queen to reign effectively in her one year in office.
Another reason is for the participants to know what it takes for them to be role models and representatives as a lot of younger girls and boys would be looking up to them for positive influence. The competition would seek a competitor with a positive self image, articulate, immaculate, confident, highly intelligent, with the spirit of an achiever and the swagger of a queen. Thus, while on camp each contender will be exposed to image consultants, media training and a range of resource persons who would enable each one to optimally portray her potentials during the competition.
Also we want to use it to promote girl-child education. The queen shall operate and initiate the promotion of girl-child education, especially in rural areas and urban centres. She will have to carry herself as an exemplary leader to these girls.
How many participants are contesting and what age range?
There are 50 potential contestants ranging from ages 18 to 25. They will be drawn from every state of the federation. They will be nominated following a technical screening from a national pool of applicants with priority given to individuals with training in science, art and social responsibility. They would further be gauged during a three-part process of an interview, cultural display and community service. Also, they will be exposed to the basic instructions in leadership and public speaking during a weeklong stay in camp preceding the grand finale scheduled for October 23, 2009.
How do you intend to carry out these ideas?
Establishments like the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja and Mama Cass have been certified as co-sponsors of the event. The backbone is Chocolate City, known for its excellence in the entertainment industry. I am sure their involvement will encourage more women to embrace the idea of exploiting their intellect to the benefit of the society.