If there is anything that ruins the reign of a beauty queen, it is certainly a scandal. Unfortunately, the media and social media have been bombarded by all kinds of scandals. This leaves many wondering if beauty pageants are worth the candle. In this report, Yetunde Oladeinde and Adetutu Audu take a look at how beauty pageants have turned to house of scandals.
If Chidinma Okeke, Miss Anambra 2015, could turn back the hands of the clock, one thing she would love to erase is the dream of being a beauty queen. Her reign as beauty queen was cut short, no thanks to a sex video that went viral. The video showed the ex-queen engaged in a lesbian act with one of her close friends. In the same video, she was shown pleasuring herself and later using a cucumber on her vagina with another lady.
Instead of clinging to the limelight, it set her back into the shadows where she tried to clear the air and tell her version of the absurd story. According to her, “Early last year, the Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS) advertised for the Miss Anambra Beauty Pageant. I heard of it and went to make enquiries. My roommate was also interested, but one of the organisers told me to apply. I told them I was not interested but the man insisted that I might win the competition. He also promised to give me the form for free if I indicated interest, and he did when I agreed to contest.”
Okeke continued: “One Jane told me that before a winner would be declared, there were certain things to be done, including the (sex) video. I consented after some persuasion from the organisers. I later went for the contest and I was declared winner with a Kia Rio vehicle as star prize.”
However, after winning the pageant the story changed. “When I went for my car after the contest, the organisers brought out a contract form for me to sign, but I told them I wanted to contact my lawyer. I was not given the opportunity to do so. What they kept telling me was that if I insisted on not signing the contract or wanted to contact my lawyer, they would release the video.”
Although she signed the contract and the car was eventually released to her, Okeke was still not satisfied with some terms of the contract in which she believed she was short changed. It was in the midst of this that the controversial video was released, with Okeke claiming it was by the organisers who were out to blackmail her. The crown and the privileges attached to the pageant were subsequently withdrawn from her.
Of recent, beauty pageants have been embroiled in scandals and controversies across the country. This is in contrast to what it used to be in the past. Scroll down memory lane and you find that a combination of beauty, elegance and good mastery of the English language are usually the criteria for selection of beauty queens at pageants, having a great IQ was added and the pageant arena became highly competitive.
Beauty and brawn
The prestige attached to the pageant in the past attracted many to the fold. It was at this point that Helen Prest, Bianca Onoh, Elizabeth Isioroh and Agbani Darego emerged. Darego became the winner of the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria (MBGN) crown in 2011 and later went on to be the first Black African to win the Miss World pageant in 2011. It was a glorious moment for the country on the world stage.
Unfortunately, things appear to have fallen apart and the centre of the Nigerian pageant world no longer seems to hold. The good old days appear to be over in the sector and many queens are unhappy. Naomi Asu, a former campus queen, said, “Things have fallen apart and you have a lot of fake beauty pageants; pageants that have been arranged purely for selfish gains. For instance, you find a group of people coming together to organise a beauty pageant for the sake of pimping girls or some other reasons; they pick the winner of the pageant and everything is just for show. In such pageants, a winner has already been selected because they are sure she will comply with their request in cash and kind.”
On September 25, 2016 the news went viral on how a pageant organiser for Miss Bayelsa Teen pageant allegedly raped one of the contestants. All hell was let loose and investigations into the unfortunate incident began.
According to the victim, 16-year-old Ebi Gesiere, an indigene of Ammassoma community in Southern Ijaw Local Government area of the state, she had secured a form to contest on the Miss Bayelsa Teen Pageant and the Miss Tourism Pageant.
The journey to fame started very well and in her fragile heart it was indeed a dream coming true. It was so captivating for the young lady as the audition process began. Everything went well until the day she met Richard Franklin, the manager of the event.
According to her, “Franklin asked me to meet him at the Opili Plaza near the NUJ Press Centre for a photo shoot. Despite my scheduled church service attendance, I went. On getting to the place, he locked the door and asked me to pull my clothes and put on another for the photo shoot. When I pulled, he then asked me to pull my ‘undies’. But I declined. He then hit me with iron rod and threatened to throw me from the three storey building. He also threatened to lock me in and hand me over to boys who would defile me. He later had his way with the iron rod pointed close to my eyes.”
It was a sad way to end a dream. Already the case had been reported to the police and Franklin arrested. He was alleged to be a serial rapist and known to police divisions in the state capital.
Another beauty queen, Cynthia Ugbah, winner of Queen of Trust International 2015, had to resign her position over alleged claims of sexual harassment by the organisers of the pageant.
One would have thought that the name of the pageant, Queen of Trust, would have made a difference but, unfortunately, this appears to be a great contradiction. According to her resignation letter obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, Cynthia said her decision was informed “after much thought and careful consideration.”
She added: “I am convinced that my decision is in our mutual best interest and for the sake of peace. I am sorry that circumstances at your pageant leave me with no other alternative than to resign but I thank you for whatever support I did receive during my time with your organisation. I have already returned the crown and all other materials.”
Ugbah had alleged that since her resignation, the organisers have been tarnishing her image on the social media. “I don’t think I did anything wrong in contesting, all I did was to fall into the wrong pageant where everything about them is full of packaging.”
She alleged that the organisers wanted her to sleep with men for money and then give the proceeds to the organisation, “They need pretty girls to fetch them money,” Ugbah disclosed.
However, a statement from Ms Onyeka Agu, Deputy National Director, Nigerian Queen Beauty Pageant, organisers of the pageant, Ugbah’s version of the story is not true. On their part, Ugbah was officially dethroned for gross misconduct.
This ugly trend unfortunately seems endless and another sad case that comes to mind is the dethroned Miss Nollywood, Grace Okoro, who has also accused its organiser of sexual harassment.
Okoro revealed that the organiser of the pageant, Barakumor Orede, made sexual advances to her. She also alleged that he stole from her and also did not fulfil the promise to get her the benefits that were to come with her winning the crown.
“I called the contact phone number which was on the advert page for the Miss Nollywood 2015/2016 after filling the online form and making the bank registration payment. Mr Barakumo Orede who picked the call asked me to order for tickets which I would sell like other contestants which was one of the criteria to be a potential winner of the pageant. I then sold tickets worth N40,000, which I gave to Mr. Barakumo. One night during camping, he told us that he would interview us but it would be done privately in his room. We went in one after the other. When it was my turn, I discovered that he was behaving very funny and that made me very uncomfortable in the room. Amongst other things, he asked me if I had a boyfriend, and I said yes, and he said that Queens don’t have boyfriends but rich men pay for it. I left the room angry and upset. I later found out that he also asked other contestants for sex during the one-on-one interview sessions.”
She added, “On another day, he sent me a text to meet him on the corridor, which I did. But he was not there, then I called him and he asked me to open the next room’s door. When I did, I saw him sitting on a chair with a worried look. ‘Boss, are you OK?’ I asked him, and he replied ‘Yes, but I am tired and I need lovemaking from you.’ I reminded him of my boyfriend.”
Okoro continued her story: “These words got him angry and he then told me that other contestants were begging for it while he was giving it to me for free and I was rejecting his offer. He pulled off his clothes and tried to force me down. I slapped him, struggled to get away from him and ran to my room immediately. He later sent me a text that he was sorry that he didn’t know what came over him and pleaded that I shouldn’t tell anyone about it.”
More surprises coming
There were more surprises and she goes on to unravel then. “On the grand finale, December 27, 2015 after we had been declared winners, we were surprised to learn that crowns were borrowed from Miss Bayelsa Pageant to crown us and immediately after our group photographs, the crowns were returned back to the organisers of the Miss Bayelsa Pageant, whose pageant was being held same day, at a different venue. All the regional queens were not crowned as a result of this. We were given just flowers and sashes. There were no rules, there was no contract agreement for us to sign, no constitution was read to us, no certificate was given neither did we see the N1million naira star prize for the winners as promised.”
Former Miss Tourism Nigeria and Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria 2012 finalist, Tomi Lydia Salami, throws more insights into the murky world of beauty pageants and how queens can hold their shoulders high, in spite of the many odds that they are faced with these days. “You don’t have to mingle with anybody you don’t want to mingle with; and I think that is how it has been from time immemorial and I don’t think it would go away anytime soon. There are some people who believe that because you are a lady they will give you terms and conditions before helping you, but you have the power to say no. I always tell ladies that they shouldn’t make modelling their only source of income because that makes them vulnerable.”
She advised that it is better to be empowered and know your rights. “As a lady you should acquire education, do business or get a regular job by the side. So if you want to do something and someone says ‘come and rub my stomach’ or something, you won’t. I also tell men that if you want to help a lady, you don’t necessarily have to give her a condition before you do it; just do it and the blessing that will follow will be more than 10 times anything she can offer you.”
Omasan Buwa, ex-MGBN and former Executive Assistant to former Delta State Governor, agreed that things have really fallen apart in the sector. “I often cringe when folks introduce me as a beauty queen. Not because I am ashamed of being the second ever MGBN or that as a law graduate. I honestly feel that my talents as a writer, radio and TV presenter and one who has served her nation have been overshadowed by a tiara. I am aware that the glitz and glamour as well as the prestige attached to beauty queens have gone down the drains.”
Buwa also attests that the girls are being used and it actually defeats the purpose. “With regard to the ugly stories making the rounds, it is now the trend. Contestants are exploited for profit and ticket sales. I challenged Miss Tourism openly on their Facebook page recently. I opened up a public petition, response was minimal although enough to get the organisers to contact me. Those girls had ‘tasks’ and had to sell tickets for the show. Ticket sales determined 80percent of overall mark. The sleeping part is personal.”
Objectification of women
On her part, former Miss Tourism, Shirley Aghotse, opined that right from the Garden of Eden, man was flawed. “Sexual harassment cannot be avoided in pageantry. The girls are objectified from the beginning and even the law that is supposed to guard against such is not effective. It happens in advanced countries and you can imagine what to expect here. It is getting worse because it is often difficult for some people to talk about it. I didn’t have such experiences while I worked with Nike Agunbiade. I don’t want to judge the Miss Anambra; she can be given a second chance. I don’t know why she did that.”
To buttress her point, Aghotse went down memory lane to remember Vanessa Williams, former Miss America. “In the early 80s, she made history twice in being crowned Miss America. When she won the prize in September 1983, she was the first African-American woman to do so. By July 1984, she became the first Miss America to resign her crown, because her nude photos were published without her consent.”
Williams, she stated, was able to get out of it after a while and her comeback was sensational. “She got multiple Grammy nominations, Broadway roles, films, a hit TV series, and an Academy award-winning song later. Interestingly, Williams has made the most of the last 32 years. Chindinma Okeke should salvage what she can and move on with her life. I wish her well like the biblical quote – I wish she prosper above all things and her soul prospers.”
The damaging pictures of queens that have been blackmailed according to Soji Kasali, a sociologist, would scare many from pageants that are already dwindling. “Such beauty pageants organisers should be sanctioned. Most times, I am worried when I see what our girls are doing in the name of beauty competitions. There was a royal father in my state who recently banned such at a programme organised in his honour. Sometimes, I ask myself the question, “Where do we draw the line between ‘beauty pageant’ and ‘prostitution? It is so obvious that some pageant organisers and agencies are doing nothing but exploiting young ladies. Also, you find that the society is becoming so twisted and our sense of right and wrong is becoming so skewed. What lessons do you hope to learn when you bring politicians and paedophiles to watch girls in G-strings and bikinis wriggling their waists? It is getting ridiculous by the day.”
One way to protect the queen and make her tenure scandal-free is by having a chaperone. Bidemi Lardner became the first chaperone of the first Miss Surulere, Matilda Kerry, who later emerged as the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria. Evil, Bidemi opined, is no respecter of persons. “That is why certain people need the services of the chaperone no matter where they go. The chaperone has every right to check on the queen at any time of the day.”
Life as a chaperone is filled with fun and adventure as the duo go globetrotting together. At the Daily Times where the Miss Nigeria Pageant is organised annually, the chaperone must be an employee of the organisation. “The queen’s misfortunes and problems are also shared by her chaperone,” informed Grace Achums, who became chaperone to three beauty queens, Vien Benigho Tetsola, Ama Valerie Peterside and Amina Eyo Ekpo.
According to Dr. May, one of the facilitators of this year’s Miss Nigeria Pageant, it is important to place emphasis on participants that are dedicated and have positive values. “We are looking for young ladies with great values, people like Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu. We want to make sure that anyone that passes through the organisation is a role model. The current Miss Nigeria has gone to Ogoniland and has done a lot on the environment. The next queen will take over from there. We will spend at least two days talking to the girls on morals. There is a lot of fake things going on and we don’t want this to affect us. What we are doing is for the long haul.”
Beauty pageants are not all about the negatives, it also has the good sides and it has helped many young ladies to rediscover themselves. One of those who have testified to the positive sides is former Miss Commonwealth, Nkem Ituludiegwu. “It’s been a lifetime experience. I’ve been to places. I have met people I never thought I could meet, I have worked with organisations I never thought I could. It’s been a very wonderful experience.”
She added, “Life itself is an experience. We learn every day. To me, I don’t see any change. But being a queen has opened doors for me. It has changed my views in many aspects. I am conscious of what I say, what I do and how I carry myself.”
Like Nkem, Amaka Echendu had a wonderful experience as Miss Delta. “My advice is that the queen should see the position as a life time opportunity because whatever you actually become in life will depend on what you do with the office. In fact, being a beauty queen made me a better person, coming out to the limelight and doing a lot of things for myself and others was fun. My pet project was mostly visits to prisons. I also visited a few motherless babies’ homes. Reaching out to the less-privileged was so wonderful, the visits meant a lot to them.”
Interestingly, beauty pageants in Nigeria preceded the birth of the country in 1960. Daily Times newspaper started beauty pageants in the country with Miss Nigeria and owned the franchise. Then it started as a photo contest in 1957 and contestants posted their photographs to the Daily Times headquarters in Lagos where finalists were shortlisted.
Successful candidates were subsequently invited to compete in the live finals which at the time did not include the swimsuit segment at the Lagos Island Club. UAC employee, Grace Oyehide, won the maiden edition of Miss Nigeria and the queen was succeeded by a secretarial student, Helen Anyamaeluna. For the records only, Nene Etule, a former seamstress, remains the only non Nigerian to have won the contest.
She was eligible because Southern Cameroon was under the Nigerian constitution at that time. The following year, the contest was briefly renamed Miss Independence to commemorate the country’s independence from Britain and Rosemary Anieze emerged the winner.
Now, the story is pageants, pageants everywhere but the quality of queens being churned out and the integrity of the organisers continue to be questionable.
However, stakeholders in the sector believe that there is need to check the proliferation of beauty pageants in the country and to regulate the activities of the organisers so as to bring sanity to the sector and maintain the high standards for which beauty pageants are known. “A recent report has revealed that there are over 1000 beauty pageants in Nigeria and they have been keeping lots of Nigerian youths busy with monetary gains for both the winners and the organisers through the sale of forms, endorsements and sponsorships by corporate organisations.”
The challenge now is to restore the past dignity of beauty pageants to the catwalk.
