SA beauty queen wins Miss Universe Nigeria

After being hounded over her nationality and forced to drop out of the Miss SA contest, Chidimma Adetshina has been crowned Miss Universe Nigeria. ‘This crown is not just for beauty; it's a call for unity,’ the 23-year-old law student stated after weeks at the centre of an intense media storm. BBC News reports that she was invited to participate in the West African pageant after her position as a finalist in the Miss SA contest sparked a wave of criticism. Some had questioned her eligibility to compete in the beauty pageant because despite being a South African citizen, Adetshina's father is Nigerian and her mother has Mozambican roots. The row over her nationality sparked an investigation with the organisers of Miss SA asking the nation's Home Affairs Department to look into her eligibility. After an initial probe, the department announced that her mother may have committed ‘identity theft’ to become a South African national. However, the statement added that Adetshina ‘could not have participated in the alleged unlawful actions of her mother as she was an infant at the time’. Adetshina will represent Nigeria at November's Miss Universe competition.

Full BBC News report