Miss Universe Nigeria Chidinma Adetshina Recounts Emotional Journey

Ferdinand  Ekechukwu

As the spotlight continues to beam on newly crowned Miss Universe Nigeria, Chidimma Adetshina, the beauty queen has spoken on her journey to winning the keenly contested pageant where she beat 25 others to emerge the winner at the grand finale, in Lagos.

The 23-year-old Adetshina, who had promised to make Nigeria proud in the course of her reign, in an interview monitored on Arise News Channel, yesterday, recounted her feelings during her journey, saying it all started in a bid to fulfill her dreams of becoming the next Miss Universe.

The 2024 Miss South Africa pageant finalist was forced to withdraw from the Miss Universe South Africa pageantry in July and later accepted an invitation to compete in the Nigerian pageant.

Her withdrawal paved the way for Caucasian, Mia Le Roux, who won the pageantry, and became the first Miss South African winner with a cochlear implant aiding her hearing. “It has been a long journey, from the SA competition to the Miss Universe Nigeria,” she admitted.

She recalled her moments before emerging as Miss Universe Nigeria 2024 and how it started.

She said she applied for the Miss South Africa 2024 pageant and got accepted and was really, excited at that stage, having made it to that point.

Following a wave of hostility, South Africans had questioned her eligibility to participate in their country’s contest after reports emerged that she was born to a Nigerian father and a South African mother with Mozambican roots. Adetshina expressed sadness, and a bit of discomfort bothering her name which South Africans frowned at.

Chidinma Adetshina became the frontline of the country’s xenophobia debate and national identity after she advanced to the Top 30 Miss SA and then finalist of the competition.

“And I was just like you know what? I’m okay, I’m fine. I don’t need to go further than this but they really saw my potential and every single week I kept on progressing until they made the big cut for the top 16 and it really made waves in South Africa. You know South Africans thought that my name was not South African enough.

“I didn’t take it too seriously that time. Then as soon as we got close to the finale, it started getting intense, actually every week it got more intense. And the week of the finale, some things happened behind the scene that made me withdraw from the competition, unfortunately, for my safety.

“And then I was really sad about it because I had thought that I was just there. And that dream got drifted away,” she said, momentarily snapping her fingers.

“I was just like ‘Okay it’s fine, it’s not the end of the world. And people started messaging me, asking me to enter for Miss Nigeria. And I was like, can I? Am I allowed to?

“I didn’t know the requirement and everything and a few days later I got an invitation from Silverbird asking me to come participate. I was like okay, this is my moment. But then I had a bit of doubt, because people on social media were like she didn’t go through the process, this was a little bit unfair, and I did consider their perspective valid as well. But then I took a deep thought into it.”

Being something she wanted, she accepted the invitation, describing it as once in a lifetime opportunity.

“That’s what I did, and accepted the invitation and here we are.” Growing up, Adetshina said people had a misconception of who she is and she got that all the time.

Born in South Africa, Adetshina visited Nigeria when she was 3 and later moved to South Africa after a couple of months. She further described her experience as a struggle and a tough journey, saying she missed her family and friends in South Africa. “They have been my biggest support structure.  They supported me even when I was in the SA competition.”

Adetshina said she was excited about being in Nigeria at the moment.