The Miss Nigeria in America (MNIA) Fund Raiser and Beauty Pageant was held this weekend at City Hall in the City of Torrance and at El Camino College Marsee Auditorium for the Labor Day Weekend. The fund raiser gave us a first glimpse of the delegates in evening dresses. We were entertained with Nigerian Hip-Hop and snacks provided by Shola’s African Cuisine.

The Silent Auction was very enjoyable and a nice way to raise money for the MNIA organization and their projects. The items were displayed around the room, and guests were encouraged to regularly bid on the items they like. It gave us the opportunity to mingle with the delegates and network with other guests that attended the event in which I found to be very exciting.

The event also honored the pageants for their commitment in reaching the finals and also past beauty queens for breaking boundaries to become ambassadors for women in Nigeria.

The MNIA Beauty Pageant was hosted by Razaaq Adoti aka Raz. Raz is a Nigerian Hollywood actor and can be seen in the 1997 major supporting role in Steven Spielberg’s epic “Amistad” also starring Anthony Hopkins, Morgan Freeman and Matthew McConaughey. In 2001 he worked with Oscar-winning director Ridley Scott in “Black Hawk Down”, where he played the main antagonist “Yousuf Dahir Mo’alim.” Other feature films include Hard Corps with Jean Claude Van-Damme and Vivica A. Fox, Paul Anderson’s “Resident Evil-Apocalypse” and starring alongside Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in “Doom.”

The judges for the event were Sammi Roibi, Pamela Asobo-Anchang, Osas Ighodaro, Eric Adunagow and Hakeem Kae-Kazim. Sammi Roibi is a Nigerian Hollywod actor and can be seen in the film “Tears of the Sun” and “Lord of War.” Pamela Asobo-Anchang is a publisher for “The Immigrant Magazine.” Osas Ighodaro Nigerian Actress and can be seen in “Cadillac Records” and “Notorious.” Eric Adunagow is a publisher for “Adunagow Magazine.” Hakeem Kae-Kazim is a British actor of Nigerian descent who played Georges Rutaganda on “Hotel Rwanda” in 2004 directed by Terry George. He also starred as Colonel Ike Dubaku in season 7 of the FOX TV series “24” and the TV movie tie-in “24: Redemption.” He can be also seen in the Hollywood blockbuster “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” as the African Businessman.

The show started off with a dazzling performance with Teresa Umanah and the delegates. The first round of the competition was concluded with 5 weeks of assignments, 4 weeks of volunteer activity and a final MNIA essay. The delegates of the 2009 MNIA Beauty Pageant competed in business professional look, swim suite and the traditional wear competition. Each delegate performed a talent that was three minutes in length. The talent performances included vocal performances, dance, dramatic monologues, instruments and comedy presentations. Each contestant wore an evening gown that represented her grace and style.

There were many fun moments during the pageant from Shei Brown who is a standup comedian based in Los Angeles and the host for the show Raz. A clip from the upcoming show “Shakara” was shown to the audience of Chichi Dike being Punk’d Naija style during a food drive at the “PATH Homeless Shelter” in Hollywood. Shakara (www.shakaratv.com) is the 1^st Nigerian/African hidden camera show from Hollywood to Nollywood.

The show ended with Miss Oyo (Calret Onukogu) taking the prestigious crown. Throughout the evening she wooed the crowed with her attire, talent and final question and answer that had the audience on their feet. All of the contestants were confident and knew how to present themselves and take center stage.

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MNIA, Inc. is a non-profit organization that was founded as a result of the need to promote education and to seek global advancement for the Nigerian Woman. Formed in March 2004, the initiative for the organization grew out of a team of Nigerian professionals concerned about the deteriorating state of education in Nigeria among women. It was also started as an initiative to develop programs for a better quality of life in Nigeria. It was an idea to celebrate Nigerian women and the opportunity to impact the lives of many. It is a thought process to teach and instill among all Nigerians, the value of unity among Nigerians.

Miss Nigeria in America Organization identifies Nigerian women in the US who exemplify beauty, talent, supremacy and intelligence. It aims to create new role models who through the beauty pageant will serve as ambassadors that will define a new Nigeria, enrich the beauty of the Nigerian Woman and enhance a new strength, energy and spirit for the advancement of women.

Written by Amaete Umanah

Tagged as: California, Eric Adunagow, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Los Angeles, Miss Nigeria in America, MNIA, Osas Ighodaro, Pageant, Pamela Asobo-Anchang, Razaaq Adoti, Sammi Roibi