Nigerians are celebrating the success of Chidimma Adetshina at the Miss Universe contest in Mexico Saturday. Adetshina fell just short of the title, being named first runner up, but was still crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania.
Another Nigerian beauty queen, Stephanie Kingsley, spent Saturday glued to her social media feed as she monitored the pageant.
She said her heart pounded with anxiety as Adetshina, 23, progressed to the top five and later emerged as the first runner up, only behind Miss Denmark, Victoria Kjaer Theilvig.
"I was talking to my friend in the U.K.,” Kingsley said. “We were on the phone for almost two hours; we were just screaming. We had goosebumps throughout. As a pageant girl, I'm really proud and grateful. It opens doors for us. You know it's been a struggle."
Adetshina won support from millions of Nigerians after a citizenship dispute forced her to step down from the Miss Universe South Africa race in early August.
Adetshina was born to a Nigerian father and a South African mother with Mozambican roots.
She said she was concerned for her safety and the well-being of her family after she was targeted in xenophobic online attacks.
Shortly after stepping down, Nigeria’s pageant organizers invited her to represent her father's country.
Kingsley said Adetshina showed extraordinary strength and courage.
“She's a really strong person mentally because I don't even want to think about how she would have tried so hard to maintain sanity,” Kingsley said. “She was able to achieve this groundbreaking record for Nigeria, that we, the pageant girls, have been hungry for since 2001."
In 2001, Nigerian model Agbani Darego won the Miss World pageant.
Adetshina is the first Nigerian and West African to place so highly in Miss Universe contest.
On Sunday, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission praised Adetshina for her fortitude.
Smart Courage, a Nigerian who runs an agency that trains beauty queens for the runway, said discrimination among Africans is a serious issue.
"The aim of pageantry is to help work on social issues especially those that affect women,” Courage said. “Every time we say, ‘Black Lives Matter’ but we also have an internal issue where Africans do not see other Africans as being ‘African enough’ and that is a conversation we need to start having. Because if we do not rectify such problems within the African community, it's going to be very difficult to say you're speaking up for Black people around the country."
South Africa’s Home Affairs department is still investigating Adetshina’s mother for alleged citizenship fraud.
Adetshina is not accused of wrongdoing as she was a baby in 2001, when authorities allege her mother committed identity theft to register their citizenship.
Neither Adetshina nor her mother has commented on the allegations.
