Name: Agbani Darego Age: 18, and counting Nationality: Nigeria Claim to fame: First black African Miss World
THE tall, long-necked Nigerian, Agbani Darego, was crowned Miss World recently, becoming the first black African to win the title in the 51-year history of the pageant, winning ahead of Zerelda Lee of Aruba and Juliet-Jane Horne of Scotland. Before being crowned, Darego said with a smile: “Black is beautiful.”
Darego has a pre-degree in Computer Science and wants to be a successful computer scientist and, of course, a super model.
“I enjoy reading novels, meeting people and making new friends. For exercise, I like hiking, and dance the traditional Riverine Dance of Nigeria. At school, I was secretary of the swimming club and vice-president of the dramatic club and I participated in the Nelson Mandela Charity Fashion Show/Concert which was memorable,” she told Jerry Springer, the American chat show host who was the Master of Ceremonies at the pageant which was watched live by a global audience estimated to be worth around 1.2 billion people.
Darego also told Springer that if she was alone on a deserted island, she would take a Bible, because she is a Christian and has a strong faith in God.
Prior to Darego’s achievement, there were been only three winners from Africa in more than half-a-century, and two of them were white South Africans, in 1958 and 1974. The third, in 1954, was from Egypt. Miss World had been dominated by winners from Europe, the Americas and India, a majority of them being white or at least a mild complexion.
Noisy celebrations broke out in bars in Nigeria’s biggest city, Lagos. Wild celebrations were also observed in the southeastern city of Port Harcourt, that is the new Miss World’s hometown.
Darego picked up $100,000 for landing the coveted prize. “I know I am going to raise a lot of money for those less privileged children in society and all over the world because that has always been my dream, and I believe that I can actually give them hope for tomorrow,” she said. “I am happy God is with me because it has given me strength, faith and courage to be myself,” she added for good measure.
While the beauty gala was celebrated in Sun City, a luxury resort of casinos and a variety of other attractions that is known as South Africa’s Kingdom of Pleasure, the contest has been condemned in the past as a cattle market and demeaning to women. However, in sharp contrast, the number of contestants continue to grow with each passing year.
THE tall, long-necked Nigerian, Agbani Darego, was crowned Miss World recently, becoming the first black African to win the title in the 51-year history of the pageant, winning ahead of Zerelda Lee of Aruba and Juliet-Jane Horne of Scotland. Before being crowned, Darego said with a smile: “Black is beautiful.”
