Miss Nigeria, Chidimma Adetshina, has expressed her delight in finishing second in the Miss Universe competition and being titled Miss Africa and Oceania. “I’m so proud of myself, and I just made history,” she stated shortly after losing to Miss Denmark, Victoria Kjaer Theilvig. Chidimma Adetshina initially competed in the Miss South Africa contest because she was born and raised in the nation, but she was subjected to trolling and xenophobic insults because her father is a Nigerian. Last month, South African officials said that she will be stripped of her identity papers due to claims that her mother, who has Mozambican roots, committed identity theft to get South African citizenship.
Neither Chidimma Adetshina nor her mother have responded to the charges. South African officials stated that Adetshina could not have participated in any suspected fraud because she was a newborn at the time. Following the controversy in South Africa and questions about her nationality, she competed in the Miss Nigeria pageant, winning and qualifying for the Miss Universe pageant in Mexico City. Mia le Roux, the eventual Miss South Africa winner, withdrew from Miss Universe last week due to an undisclosed medical ailment. She was the first deaf woman to be crowned Miss South Africa. Adetshina, a law student, told the BBC in September that she still considered herself “proudly South African” and “proudly Nigerian”.
However, when Miss Universe South Africa tweeted to congratulate her on her second place, alongside both the South African and Nigerian flags, several South Africans protested by claiming she did not represent them. In her BBC interview, Adetshina stated that she will seek therapy to help her cope with the trauma caused by the abuse she experienced. She is the highest-placed black African woman at Miss Universe since South Africa’s Zozibini Tunzi won the title in 2019.
Source: Citinewsroom
