Nigeria celebrates Miss Universe success amid citizenship controversy

abuja, nigeria — 

Nigerians are celebrating the occurrence of Chidimma Adetshina astatine the Miss Universe contention successful Mexico Saturday. Adetshina fell conscionable abbreviated of the title, being named archetypal runner up, but was inactive crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania.

Another Nigerian quality queen, Stephanie Kingsley, spent Saturday glued to her societal media provender arsenic she monitored the pageant.

She said her bosom pounded with anxiousness arsenic Adetshina, 23, progressed to the apical 5 and aboriginal emerged arsenic the archetypal runner up, lone down Miss Denmark, Victoria Kjaer Theilvig.

"I was talking to my person successful the U.K.,” Kingsley said. “We were connected the telephone for astir 2 hours; we were conscionable screaming. We had goosebumps throughout. As a pageant girl, I'm truly arrogant and grateful. It opens doors for us. You cognize it's been a struggle."

Adetshina won enactment from millions of Nigerians aft a citizenship quality forced her to measurement down from the Miss Universe South Africa contention successful aboriginal August.

Adetshina was calved to a Nigerian begetter and a South African parent with Mozambican roots.

She said she was acrophobic for her information and the well-being of her household aft she was targeted successful xenophobic online attacks.

Shortly aft stepping down, Nigeria’s pageant organizers invited her to correspond her father's country.

Kingsley said Adetshina showed bonzer spot and courage.

“She's a truly beardown idiosyncratic mentally due to the fact that I don't adjacent privation to deliberation astir however she would person tried truthful hard to support sanity,” Kingsley said. “She was capable to execute this groundbreaking grounds for Nigeria, that we, the pageant girls, person been bare for since 2001."

In 2001, Nigerian exemplary Agbani Darego won the Miss World pageant.

Adetshina is the archetypal Nigerian and West African to spot truthful highly successful Miss Universe contest.

On Sunday, the Nigerians successful Diaspora Commission praised Adetshina for her fortitude.

Smart Courage, a Nigerian who runs an bureau that trains quality queens for the runway, said favoritism among Africans is simply a superior issue.

"The purpose of pageantry is to assistance enactment connected societal issues particularly those that impact women,” Courage said. “Every clip we say, ‘Black Lives Matter’ but we besides person an interior contented wherever Africans bash not spot different Africans arsenic being ‘African enough’ and that is simply a speech we request to commencement having. Because if we bash not rectify specified problems wrong the African community, it's going to beryllium precise hard to accidental you're speaking up for Black radical astir the country."

South Africa’s Home Affairs section is inactive investigating Adetshina’s parent for alleged citizenship fraud.

Adetshina is not accused of wrongdoing arsenic she was a babe successful 2001, erstwhile authorities allege her parent committed individuality theft to registry their citizenship.

Neither Adetshina nor her parent has commented connected the allegations.