Looking back on the historic Miss Nigeria pageant

Miss Nigeria
The pageant clocks sixty years
Looking back on the historic Miss Nigeria pageant

Published: 16:53 Ntianu ObioraPrinteMail
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As the Miss Nigeria pageant nears it's 60th year, we take a look at the iconic pageant that has birthed a long line of legendary beauty queens and acted as a valuable platform for female empowerment in Nigeria.

The beginning
The Miss Nigeria franchise begun in 1957 as a photo contest. Contestant posed for photographs at the Daily Times headquarters in Lagos and finalists were shortlisted. The successful finalists were invited to complete in a live show at the Lagos Island Club. The inaugural edition was won by Grace Oyelude who used her £200 (a grand sum back then) to travel to England and study Nursing.

(MJE Magazine)

International controversy
The Miss Nigeria contest begun competing at an international level in the sixties. Yemi Idowu who won in 1962 went on to be a semi-finalist in Miss United Nations 1963. Perhaps the most memorable of all however was Edna Park. Edna was the first Nigerian at Miss Universe in 1964 and was best know for fainting dramatically after failing to make the final 15. Edna was taken by first responders to a hospital in Miami where she spent the night under sedation.

Edna Park was the last Miss Nigeria to compete at Miss Universe. However, Rosaline Balogun became the first official Miss Nigeria at Miss World in 1967.

Edna Park

Rosaline Balogun

A vehicle for change
In 2016, in a bid to tackle the pressing idea of sustainability and community development, the Miss Nigeria franchise launched 'The Green-Girl Project' which aimed to empower young women to become facilitators of providing and maintaining a clean envrironment.

It's a valuable platform which gives young women the platform to become actively involved in green issues and environmental reform. The Miss Nigeria organisers have stuck to their promise of wanting to empower women beyond beauty.

Present times
This year, the girl's are gearing up for what is to be an explosive finale held at Eko Hotel and Suites on Thursday 21 December.

The contestants are currently hard at work in camp taking part in a range of tasks to prepare them for their journey ahead. The girls got all dressed up in their finest traditional attire to represent their place of origin. They also took part in a cooking competition which was a fun way of showing off their skills as well as bonding as a group.

We look forward to seeing what the Miss Nigeria organisation pulls out of the bag to commemorate reaching such a momentous anniversary and we wish them many more years of showing women that they sky does not have to be the limit.

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