Nigeria’s representative at the recently concluded Miss Universe 2024, Chidimma Adetshina, carried the weight of expectation of about 230 million Nigerians on her shoulders and, against all odds, she came, she saw, she conquered, or almost did so at the annual pageant.
Chidimma came in second place – the highest-ever placing for Nigeria – behind Denmark’s Victoria Kjaer Theilvig, at the keenly contested 73rd edition of the Miss Universe pageant.
The competition featured a bevy of beautiful young women from different countries in the world, and in the process, Adetshina proved that perseverance pays, and that her destiny was not only in her hands but also in the hands of the people who salvaged her career – Nigerians.
The 23-year-old Adetshina, a law student who grew up in Soweto, had wanted to represent South Africa at the global pageant but controversy surrounding her identity as a South African made her to withdraw from the Miss Universe South Africa 2024 pageant, before Nigeria came to her rescue.
Adetshina’s dad is a bona fide Nigerian who sojourned in South Africa where he married a Mozambican woman who allegedly “forged” documents to obtain citizenship in the former apartheid enclave.
Thus, when the South African edition of the pageant was taking place, Chidimma’s heritage became a hot issue and her name, Adetshina, struck a raw nerve with South Africans who could not imagine why a young woman of Nigerian descent would represent them at the world stage.
So, they revolted and started to troll Chidimma. The people asked the government to investigate
Chidimma’s mother for identity theft, and because the poor girl could not stomach the attendant xenophobic attacks that followed, she withdrew from the contest just to save her skin.
Thereafter, Adetshina was invited by the Silverbird group, organisers of the Miss Nigeria pageant, to contest in Nigeria. She graciously accepted the invitation and won the show as Miss Taraba State.
Adetshina’s victory did not escape the scrutiny of some Nigerian celebrities, including Martins Vincent Otse (aka Verydarkman), and other keyboard warriors who kicked against the victory that was “handed to her on a platter.”
They screamed blue murder and castigated the organisers for being “lazy.”
Adetshina’s detractors, especially South Africans, may quip that she did not conquer at Miss Universe
2024 – and they would be right about it as she missed the crown by a whisker – but that, in the midst of the “prosecute her” chants by the same South Africans who want to visit her mother’s sin on her, has not dampened her spirits.
It is, therefore, as though South Africans’ animosity towards Chidimma produced bad karma. The country’s representative at Miss Universe 2024, Mia Le Roux, quit the contest over health concerns.
Some South Africans said she would not have made a strong impression if she were in the show because Chidimma was more beautiful than her.
“Let us not be jealous. The girl (Chidimma) is beautiful whether we like it or not. She is even more beautiful than our own Miss Universe South Africa,” one Nkululeko Masimini said.
However, some other South Africans have chosen to fight Chidimma still, pointing out that they are content seeing the crown go to another country.
Chidimma is not alone in this fight, though. Thankfully, she has had some prominent Nigerians come to her defence as the internet trolling continues unabated.
A popular South African musician that goes by the name, Aphelele Tyelbooi, said on X, “As long as it is not Chidimma Adetshina who won Miss Universe 2024 , we are good,” he said, adding a laughing emoji to his post.
“That girl is a favoured child. She is a moving train. She cannot be stopped. Even South Africa cannot dim her star. She is made for greatness and those who want her downfall can only watch her ascent”
However, investigative journalist, David Hundeyin, put Tyelbooi in his place with a scathing reply.
Hundeyin reeled out Chidimma’s prize money before berating Tyelbooi for “tumbling out of a vagina” that belonged to a C-list South African actress.
Hundeyin said, “Her package as first runner up includes $100,000 cash, a 1-year lease on a luxury apartment in New York, a $3m diamond-encrusted crown and connections and contacts to kick off a successful career in modelling and showbiz.”
While mocking the South African that “Chidimma’s life is far better than yours,” Hundeyin also said that the only thing Tyelbooi would accomplish with his life was that “the vagina you tumbled out of” belongs to a C-list actress in a South African soap that nobody under the age of 43 had ever watched.
Another South African, Mmakgora Ledwaba, told his South African compatriots about Adetshina’s surprising exploits at Miss Universe 2024, “[We] didn’t see this coming. Mzansi, let’s hold our peace. The crown is in Denmark;” before he captioned a picture of Chidimma with “We will call you ‘almost.’”
This time, however, it was former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, who took up the gauntlet.
“Why should Black people do this to each other? In any case, it is better to be Miss Almost Universe, since it comes with a $100,000 prize money and a year’s residency in Manhattan, the most expensive real estate market on Earth, then to be Miss Never Universe, and return home to South Africa and live in your gated neighbourhood that is 99% White,” he said.
Omokri also said it was such behavior by South Africans that made colonialism possible and the exploitation of Africa a reality.
“You are at peace because the crown went to Denmark? What type of peace is that? You would rather a White European win it than a Black African like you. And then you complain of racism and discrimination,” Omokri added.
Apart from the South Africans who strenuously object to Chidimma’s victory and want to rubbish her stellar performance at Miss Universe 2024, there are also talks in some quarters about the winner, Miss Denmark, winning the pageant because she has natural blonde hair and blue eyes.
And that may have been what motivated Donald Trump Jr., the son of President-elect of the United States of America, Donald Trump – who once owned the Miss Universe franchise, to assert in a tweet on X that “Biological and objectively attractive women are allowed to win beauty pageants again,” before he added in all caps, “WE ARE SO BACK!!!”
And then controversially, too, the pageant’s proprietor, Anne Jakrajutatip, said in a press conference following Miss Denmark’s coronation as Miss Universe 2024, that the organization had reached the “best version of Miss Universe” with a blonde-haired and blue-eyed titleholder.
Despite all the cacophony of deafening views, Chidimma came back home to Nigeria and revealed that she would be leaving pageantry permanently. According to her, she wanted to focus on her studies, walking the runways and acting.
A public affairs analyst and Chartered Accountant, Ifeoma Ogbonna, told The Point, “It is unfortunate that Nigerians who know next to nothing about pageants, actually criticised Chidinmma when she emerged victorious at Miss Nigeria.
“I remember that some Nigerians were making noise that organisers had given the girl the Nigerian crown out of sentiment. But thank God she has now proven all of them wrong.
“Do you know what they would have said if she did not make the top 30 or 10? They would have come out to reinforce their theory about Silverbird group, the organisers, being lazy or taking bribes.
“That girl is a favoured child. She is a moving train. She cannot be stopped. Even South Africa cannot dim her star. She is made for greatness and those who want her downfall can only watch her ascent.”
A businesswoman, Peace Njoku, while reacting to Chidimma’s story of perseverance, said, “I have been following Chidimma since her travails began in South Africa, and I must confess that she is gold.
“And at this juncture, I must commend the organisers of Miss Nigeria for taking a risk by bringing her to the contest as Miss Taraba State.
“It was a risk, but the organisers must have seen something special in her. And thank goodness the confidence they reposed in her paid off.
“However, I do not understand why Chidimma says she is shutting the door to pageants. I understand that she has reached the summit of pageantry and It is possible she might have been advised against it by someone close to her, but she should keep her options open.
“And as much as I support Chidimma, I think the Danish lady is also beautiful. The crown could have gone anywhere. It’s not about blonde hair or blue eyes.
“After all, a South African and Indian have won the contest in the past. Let’s give the organisers and judges the benefit of the doubt.”