Without a doubt, any time the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) would agree to return to the school for lectures, they would be surprised at the progress some of their students have made during the forced holiday occasioned by the strike.
One of those who would return to the campus richer and more glamorous pre-strike, is a 20-year old 200 level student of agricultural economics and extension of the University of Uyo, Precious John Dominic, who last Sunday morning emerged the winner of the 3rd edition of Miss Style Nigeria beauty pageant staged at Watbridge Hoteland Suites, Uyo.
Precious had to shake off stiff competition from six other finalists to emerge victorious and carted away the star prize of a Honda City salon car among other prizes.
The theme of the 2022 edition of the competition was ‘The making of the Girl Entrepreneur. ‘ and had Miss Rwanda 2020, Noamie Nishimwe as one of the judges.
The President and CEO of Miss Style Nigeria, Princess Hilda Okon, in her address on the occasion, said Miss Style Nigeria brand recognized the stereotype of the girl child and had over the years sought to create balance between the male and the female offspring through pageantry which incorporates every aspect of life such as civic education, training, seminars and workshop.
She said the platform had not only empowered but also instilled in the participants, the rich cultural values and societal ethics while putting food on their table.
According to her, helping women achieve their full potential is one of the most powerful ways to fight poverty as it has been observed that a majority of young women in Africa has continued to face tremendous barriers to success.
“They have limited access to the productive resources like shops, finance and information that they need to grow their small and medium scale businesses and they are disproportionately affected by poverty, violence and discrimination. In most cases, young women must also balance the bulk of the household and childcare responsibilities with effort to improve their skills and earn independent incomes.
“Investing in opportunities for young women could have tremendous economic impact. If young women entrepreneurs have the same access as men do to training, information and resources, they will certainly earn income and become financially independent and in turn assist in taking care of the home and helping the needy in the society.
“We are proud to say that in these three years, Miss Style Nigeria brand through pageantry has raised and empowered 28 young women with viable skill acquisition and has provided both direct and indirect employment opportunities to over 30 youths both male and female alike.
“This year we are making this event better and even grander as we have gone beyond the shores of Nigeria to the country of Rwanda. Two of our judges today are from Rwanda – Miss Rwanda 202o and Mr Willy Ndashiro and other Rwandan contingent. I’m pleased to announce to you that we shall be floating Miss Style (Africa) Rwanda next year.”
The now outgone Miss Style Nigeria beauty queen 2021/2022, Christy Ukeme, while narrating some philanthropic and social activities she had undertaken during her one-year reign, said it had been an amazing experience to work with the Miss Style Nigeria Organization. She advised the incoming queen to be humble, pray hard and enjoy her reign.
While Miss Maryann Okparaeke representing Imo state in the contest emerged 1st runner up to win an industrial sewing machine apart from earlier winning the most influential queen prize, Emmanuella Okolie representing Imo emerged the 2nd runner up. The other four went home with some consolation prizes even as those who had made various contributions to the success of the pageant were given several categories of award.
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