Encomiums have been raining on Nigeria’s representative at the 73rd Miss Universe competition in Mexico, Chidimma Adetshina, since she emerged the first runner-up in the contest from among over 120 contestants from around the world, with Victoria Kjær Theilvig of Denmark crowned Miss Universe.
In the spirit of the celebrations and accolades for Adetshina, South Africa-based Nigerian tech entrepreneur and founder of Gemsbok Group, Charles Awuzie, on Monday through his verified Facebook page, revealed the men who motivated the beauty queen to come to Nigeria and partake in the Miss Universe Nigeria contest, which she eventually won.
When Adetshina withdrew from the Miss Universe South Africa 2024 contest, Awuzie was one of the people who supported her and facilitated her visit to Nigeria for the Miss Universe Nigeria contest.
According to Awuzie, Chuka Okafor, Mike Balogun, Ikechukwu Eze, and Okwulora were the men who worked behind the scenes to help the beauty queen come to Nigeria.
Following Adetshinas’s emergence as the first runner-up in the Miss Universe contest, Ikechukwu Eze took to Facebook to thank Awuzie for what he did for her.
Eze said She made us proud. You, Charles Awuzie, are an integral part of this success. You stepped in when you were called to assist this golden child in achieving her dream. You bought the ticket for Chidimma to travel to Nigeria. This story cannot be told without you.
Following the reactions trailing Eze’s post, Awuzie reacted thus: I have decided to expose those who deserve the accolades. I am the least of them. While I appreciate the comment by Mr Ikechukwu, I want the world to know that it was him, Mike and my friend Chuka who took this project on their shoulders.
I know Mike would want to remain private or anonymous, but he abandoned his life in Johannesburg to travel with Chidimma across Nigeria. He should be honoured.
When Adetshina emerged as the first runner-up in the Miss Universe contest, she took to Instagram and expressed her gratitude to everyone for walking this journey with me.
She stated that while she represented Nigeria, Africa fought for her, adding My voice, my story touched many and brought us together. This journey has taught me the power of unity. I want us to live in a society where we can all accept and celebrate one another.
Awuzie said that the beauty queen’s feat has made him realise he owes Nigeria a thank-you for teaching him resilience in his formative days. He further said that by nature or nurture, there is a Nigeria in every Nigerian.
In light of this, the Gemsbok boss added that there is an Adetshina in all Nigerians and that what any Nigerian does for one Adetshina, they do for all Adetshinas.
This is the story Nigerians wanted to tell with the emergence of Chidimma Adetshina. She fit into that story, and that story has been told at a global level. In her story, we see a piece of our own story, he said.
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