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Miss Nigeria is an annual pageant show which showcases positive attributes of Nigerian women and awards university scholarships. The winner portrays exemplary qualities and serves as a role model for young women in the country. The pageant is currently organised by Beth Model Management Africa.〔(All Set for New Miss Nigeria )〕 The current title holder is Computer Science graduate Pamela Lessi who represented Cross River. ==History== National newspaper ''Daily Times'' were the original owners of the Miss Nigeria franchise which started as a photo contest in 1957. Contestants posted photographs of themselves to the ''Daily Times'' headquarters in Lagos where finalists were shortlisted; those successful were invited to compete in the live final which at the time did not include a swimsuit competition at the Lagos Island Club. UAC employee Grace Oyelude won the maiden edition of Miss Nigeria, and would later use part of her £200 prize money to travel to England where she studied Nursing.〔(My Reign As First Miss Nigeria )〕 Contrary to popular belief, Julie Coker was not the first Miss Nigeria - she was Miss Western Nigeria but used the 'Miss Nigeria' title during official engagements aboard. However, she did compete in the contest the year after Oyelude's reign, losing out to secretarial student Helen Anyamaeluna.〔(In My Time, We Knew Nothing About Genotype )〕 Former seamstress Nene Etule remains the only non-Nigerian to have won the contest; she was eligible as Southern Cameroon was under Nigerian constitution in 1959.〔(Cameroon Political Story )〕 The following year the contest was briefly renamed 'Miss Independence' to commemorate the country's independence from British rule, and the winner Rosemary Anieze was crowned in a ceremony which included Coker as one of the judges.〔(Enahoro’s humour made me fall in love with him )〕 The sixties saw Miss Nigeria competing at international level; Yemi Idowu, who had won the contest in 1962 was a semi-finalist at Miss United Nations 1963. Her successor, salesgirl Edna Park, was the first Nigerian at Miss Universe in 1964, and is best remembered for disrupting the show by collapsing after failing to reach the top fifteen. Park was carried away by policemen and contest officials 〔(Miss Nigeria Not Selected )〕 before spending the night in a Miami hospital under sedation, where she was consoled by Nneka Onyegbula, wife of the Nigerian ambassador, who reportedly stated: "All the judges are White and they aren’t really competent to judge () dark girl's beauty". After Park, no other Miss Nigeria competed at Miss Universe.〔(Miss Universe:Beauty )〕 Rosaline Balogun became the first official Miss Nigeria at Miss World in 1967. With the gradual demise of ''Daily Times'' and rivalry with Sliverbird's Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, Miss Nigeria ceased to be the country's most prominent pageant and began to lose its way towards the nineties; in the mid-eighties ''Daily Times'' had lost its license to send delegates to Miss World and Miss Universe,〔(Men Are Scared of Me )〕 and no winner was crowned after Clara Ojo's victory from 1994 to 1998 due to the organiser's incapability to convene a pageant during this time. After the new millennium and several age scandals, Miss Nigeria became a shadow of its former self, and the contest was scrapped in 2004 by ''Daily Times''. In 2010, after a six-year attempt, AOE Events and Entertainment, headed by former MBGN Nike Oshinowo bought the Miss Nigeria franchise from ''Daily Times''. For the first time in its history, entry was open to women in the diaspora,〔(Nigeria: Miss Nigeria Pageant Returns )〕 and inspired by Miss America, Oshinowo relaunched Miss Nigeria as a scholarship programme which offered free tuition to the winner and second and third-place winners, with the Miss Nigeria titleholder receiving a scholarship to study at any University of her choice worldwide.〔(Feyijimi Shodipo Embraces Fashion )〕 The new Miss Nigeria now included a reality show ''The Making of a Queen'' which saw contestants compete in various tasks synonymous with Nigerian women including cooking on outdoor firewood stoves, hostessing, and haggling with market traders, with a number of contestants facing eviction each week.〔(Miss Nigeria casting holds in Abuja today )〕 Evening gowns were made from traditional African fabrics, and most notably the swimsuit competition was discontinued.〔(Miss Nigeria Pageant... Showcasing Beauty, Brains and Culture )〕 Under Oshinowo's leadership, the pageant ran for two years before the franchise was given to Beth Model Management CEO and former Miss Nigeria UK Elizabeth Aisien in 2012.〔(Nigerian beauty pageants still evolving -Elohor Aisien )〕 Throughout the year, the winner is sponsored by several prestigious organisations, and may land endorsement deals.〔(Miss Nigeria Pageant... Showcasing Beauty, Brains and Culture )〕 Winners no longer represent Nigeria at international pageants (the last Miss Nigeria at a major pageant abroad was Law graduate Nwando Okwuosa at Miss International 2003), but now work with associated charities and use their status to promote their platforms (also known as 'pet projects') - an issue which is of relevance to Nigeria.〔(Being a Beauty Queen is Huge Responsibility )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Miss Nigeria」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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