The News
Nigeria’s Chidimma Adetshina has been crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania, completing a major reversal of fortunes after being embroiled in an xenophobia row just three months ago.
The 23-year-old came first runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjær Theilvig at the 73rd Miss Universe competition in Mexico City. It is the highest-ever placing in the global pageant for Nigeria. She follows in the footsteps of Agbani Darego, the first Nigerian to be crowned Miss World in 2001.
In a recent interview after her victory, Adetshina said she had “exceeded” her expectations, with tremendous support from across Africa but would be putting “pageantry to bed” to focus on her law studies and acting career.
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Adetshina’s victory was not without a fair share of controversy. She had initially entered the Miss South Africa competition before withdrawing following xenophobic attacks and probing of her identity.
The law student was born and raised in South Africa to a Nigerian father and a Mozambican mother with South African citizenship.
However, following public outcry over her qualifications to contest in the pageant and a request from the Miss South Africa organizers, South Africa’s Home Affairs department initiated an investigation into her citizenship. It concluded that the identity of an “innocent” South African mother may have been stolen by Adetshina’s mother.
The Home Affairs authorities told parliament that they would revoke the national identification documents of Adetshina and her mother “in line with the Identification Act.”
Despite that, Chidimma’s recent victory in Mexico has elicited mixed reaction from social media users from across Africa, with many in both South Africa and Nigeria claiming her victory.