More Pictures and Anonymous PoV on Miss Nigeria in America 09

Miss Abuja, Crystal Ikanih, performing her talent, dancing, during the MNIA Beauty Pageant (Pic. by Amaete Umanah)

Here’s an account of the Miss Nigeria in America pageant, from our correspondent who will like to stay anonymous, perhaps because her commendable writing skills.

So the 5th annual Miss Nigeria in America (MNIA) pageant took place over Labor Day Weekend in Los Angeles. Having received a flyer for this at just about every other Nigerian event I’d been to over the last 4 months, I expected much. But then again, knowing how absolutely forgettable many (not all) Nigerian events can be, I wasn’t holding my breath.

The event started right on time (’bout 1.5 hours past the time on the flyer). So I took those extra 30 minutes to get my fit together. People came correct! I’m talking ’bout 3-piece suits, lace, ankara, asho oke, and even long white, wedding-like dresses. Hmmm…I guess its not truly a Naija event unless women come looking for husband. You know who you are. But I ain’t mad at that. Anyway, by the way people were dressed, I could tell this was an event of stature and when the lights dimmed, I had my eyes glued to the stage.

So the music started – that Lion King African song that everybody sings along too, even though they have NO idea what the guy is saying. You all know which one I’m talking ’bout. And out comes a lady in white doing some sort of interpretative interpretation of the song. It was interesting to say the least, but definitely made an impression. Then one-by-one, the former Miss Nigerians were announced onto the stage for the audience to feast their eyes – a very nice touch. And finally, the moment we were all waiting for – the contestants were revealed. They came out dancing to a Beyonce song looking happy, bright-eyed and perfectly put together. Ahh, the wonderful world of pageants.

Then the real fun started. The girls came out one-by-one in business attire first, then swimsuits, and then traditional outfits. Most of the girls were on point. And each of them had their own little fan club, yelling like maniacs when their favorite contestant came out. The competition was clearly tight….Until the talent portion. At this point the thin line of competition between the girls became a very THICK line between those who knew what they were doing and those who just…thought it. Reminds me of when your parents tell you: “You can do all things through Christ” or “You can achieve anything if you set your mind to it.” Well, sure you can do all things through Christ…but that don’t mean it will be good. And you probably could achieve all things if you set your mind to it. But if I were some of those girls, I’d set my mind to something else.

**Note: Dear Future Contestants: Please ask somebody besides your mother and your sisters if you are good at what you do. It will pay off in the long run, trust.

And then there came the point at which I knew who would win. “Miss Oyo” captivated the audience with “Stella” – the story of a girl and her journey through… GENITAL MUTILATION. Huh? What?! Yea…not your typical choice for a dramatic monologue at a beauty pageant. But she went there. Sound effects and all. And it was one of the few moments in which the crowd was absolutely silenced (and you know how rare that is for a bunch of Nigerians). My guess? They were either scared shitless or moved to a place of deep and provoking thought. Either way, Miss Oyo was met with a standing ovation, leaving little mystery as to who might win the crown.

After talent, came evening gown and the “question & answer” portion during which the girls were asked a variety of questions on issues relevant to the Nigerians. Ironically, this was the point at which some of the girls who might have been previously forgotten, really stepped it up. In case you were wondering, one way MNIA aims to dispel tribalism is by having their contestants represent states that they are NOT from. That way, they are forced to learn about each other and find commonalities amongst them. This helps unify the different cultures. I learned that from a question that was thoughtfully answered by one of the contestants. Thank you for that. In turn, some of the girls who were arguably “the prettiest” didn’t do as well as you’d hoped. Some were just very cliche. We want our queen to have beauty & brains. So good job to those who came with it.

Then came time to annouce the final 5. The host – Actor Razaaq Adoti (Amistad, Black Hawk Down, Hard Corps) had all this while kept the audience engaged and laughing. But after he announced the top 5, there was alot of whispering and scrambling. A few minutes later, the top 5 became the top 6. Hmmm…A tie I presume? In true amebor nature, I had to find out what really went down and apparently, Mr. Host had mixed up the state names and announced the WRONG person in the final 5. Can you imagine? “Congratulations, all your hardwork has paid off and you have made it to the top 5!” “…Oh wait…just kidding!!” Whooops. But somehow everything worked itself out and the crowd was ready to meet out winner.

After a long drawn out process of elimination, “Miss Oyo” emerged the winner (I told you so) and the past queen then placed the shiny crown on her head. It was nice little moment, I must say. Since she was a crowd favorite, her win made us feel that we had something to do with it…even though we didn’t. But hey. The 1st runner up was also a crowd favorite and we were happy with that choice too. Great job girls.

Big Big ups to Chichi Dike & Kenneth Emeson – the directors of the MNIA pageant – for putting on a great show and showing that Nigerians can put together a quality event. Big Big ups to all the girls who contested, we know its not easy. And finally, Congratulations to the new Miss Nigeria in America. We expect great things from you.

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