Former Miss South Africa hopeful Chidimma Adetshina has accepted an invitation to participate in Miss Universe Nigeria.
This comes after the 23-year-old was forced to withdraw from Miss South Africa amid a preliminary investigation by Home Affairs which cast doubt about her citizenship. Home Affairs found prima facie evidence that her mother had allegedly committed identity fraud 23 years ago.
The 23-year-old mother of one withdrew from the Miss SA pageant, which was subsequently won by Mia le Roux. Adetshina was the target of Afrophobic backlash and over citizenship that she received from netizens.
A lot of people felt that she is not a representation of South Africans in any way because her mother is of Mozambican descent while her father is Nigerian.
In light of the recent online events, Miss Universe Nigeria released a statement last week, inviting Adetshina to participate in their beauty pageant.
In the statement they said: “This is an opportunity to represent your father’s native land on an international stage”.
Adetshina has now accepted the invitation to go participate in her father’s native land since she released a video on Instagram confirming her participation.
“I have received an invitation from the Silverbird Group who are the organisers of the Miss Universe Nigeria pageant to participate in the Miss Universe Nigeria 2024, and I say this with great excitement because I have decided to accept the invitation”
“I have decided to participate in the Miss Universe Nigeria 2024 beauty pageant”
“Thank you so much for this opportunity, and I look forward to participating in Africa’s most prestigious beauty pageant, Miss Universe Nigeria” she said.
From tweets to petitions of having her removed from participating in the Miss SA 2024 beauty pageant, Adetshina took to Instagram weeks later to announce her withdrawal from the Miss SA beauty pageant.
She mentioned the safety of herself and family as one of the reasons for her withdrawal from Miss SA 2024 beauty pageant.
IOL