Miss Nigeria launches new column in Hi Magazine: "Diary of Miss Nigeria “Queen Ambassador” Oluwadamilola Agbajor.

An occurrence I will relish for the rest of my life happened on the 25^thof September 2010. It was a day that had a past to it.
A past that had its balance In God, hope, dreams, hard work, and determination. I would like to take you through that past before that day.

As a young girl, I never dreamt of being a beauty queen. I always wanted to do something different but I didn’t know what it was. At the age of 11, as I watched Agbani Darego crowned Miss World, I thought within me ‘I can do that too’. As the years went past, there were so many different kinds of pageants and my friends and family kept telling me to enter them. I didn’t, none of them felt right. I felt like something was missing and so I prayed to God for guidance. During the summer holidays, I got a text message from my friend, telling me about the Miss Nigeria Competition, she encouraged me to check out the website. I checked out the website and I loved what I saw. I decided immediately that I had to be a part of it. It was the fact that there was no swim wear session that really got me to enter the competition. Note the use of the word Competition- from the moment I entered the pageant, I realized it was much more than an ordinary pageant, it was a competition. On entering the competition, I found out that the winner gets the title “Queen Ambassador” from the Federal Government and an opportunity to work with the Federal Ministry for Culture, Tourism and National Orientation and the Ministry for Women’s Affairs. At that point, it felt as though I had found the missing puzzle of my life, everything else fell into place afterwards. At this time, I was in the U.K spending the summer with my family.

After registering, I was informed of the date for the UK Zonal Castings. During m y casting, I was asked a series of questions. A few days later, I got a congratulatory call that I was among the finalists chosen for the competition. It was the best news I heard till date. It was an all expenses covered trip- my flight, feeding and accommodation were covered by the Miss Nigeria organization. I flew into Nigeria on the 2^nd of September on Arik Air, and was picked up from Muritala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, where we were taken to the Miss Nigeria Resort. The 2-week reality show began with 36 girls, myself included, each representing the different states in Nigeria all camped in one house. It was indeed challenging because everyone was a potential Miss Nigeria as we were all smart, beautiful, intelligent and talented. Some were lawyers, doctors, physicists, models, nurses and even first class graduates.

The routines in the camp were not all that pleasing. We had to wake up as early as 5am to exercise then we were assigned tasks to do. We participated in singing/karaoke, dancing, volley ball and cooking competitions alongside other fun but challenging competitions. The most unpleasant aspect of camp were the evictions. Evictions were usually teary and moody days. We all contestants would be leaving for one reason or the other.  I was once up for eviction due to my age but thank God I wasn’t evicted. My favorite parts of camp were the visits, the photo sessions and mealtimes. Leisure times were also amazing- we went dancing, played charades on the beach and also had an opportunity to meet actress, Omotola Jolade. The skin care session by Lola Maja and our visit to Her Royal Highness, the Erelu of Lagos state in her palace were also major highlights in my experience at the Miss Nigeria Resort. At the end of two weeks, 16 girls had to leave and 20 of us were left for the final event in Abuja.

From the Miss Nigeria Resort, the 20 finalists moved to the Hawthorn Suites in Abuja where we were taught choreography and learned how to catwalk. This was where the competition became intense. It became a battle of the survival of the fittest, but we endured it all thanks to our wonderful chaperons who were always encouraging us and letting us know how well we’d done so far. Finally, the much awaited day arrived and I was so thrilled when I saw Agbani Darego, my childhood idol. She was the host of the show alongside Mai Atafo. We had all perfected our routines and the stage was magical. The audience was captivated by the event. It was a three-hour life changing event for me. I was so surprised when I heard “the award for the Miss Photogenic goes to Miss Delta” (that was me). I didn’t know that the best was yet to come.  Soon after, the top ten contestants were called and as I was about to leave the stage I heard the presenter say “and the last but not the least contestant in the top ten is….” Then I thought within me, “Maybe there’s still a chance for me”. Alas-it was Miss Delta. We were asked questions and then the top five contestants were announced. This time, I was the fourth to be called out. We were asked another series of questions and then the final three contestants were announced and again, I was the last of the three to be called.

At this time, I had my heart in my mouth. This was the moment Nigeria had been waiting for, for six years. I held my breath as I heard the second runner up being announced, the first runner up was announced and then it happened, Miss Nigeria 2010 was announced, it was Miss Delta. Chief Adenike Oshinowo Soleye crowned me on behalf of the people of Nigeria. I was in awe for a few minutes. I had prayed, dreamt, hoped and even imagined what the crown was going to look like on me but it was nothing compared to it in reality. And the most amazing thing is that I turned 19 a few hours after I was crowned. I always wanted a car at 18 and I got it a few hours before I turned 19! It was the best birthday present ever. I got a scholarship to study in any higher institution of my choice anywhere in the world, a brand new car, a wardrobe for a year by a Nigerian designer, Momo, a year’s salary of 3million naira and so many more other prizes, some of which I am already utilizing. That night for me was made in heaven.

As a beauty queen, the first lines of action are my pet project. My pet project are a long term goal, it’s for and about the youth in Nigeria. There are going to be youth centers all over Nigeria, in these centers, there would be different activities such as dancing, catering, swimming, and all sporting activities. Experts in various fields will teach and help develop the youth in their area of interests, there will be prizes awarded to people with outstanding performances. I chose this pet project because growing up for me was quite boring. Whenever we went out,  we only went to eatries. There were no recreation/relaxation centers that were accessible to everyone. The goal with these centers is to keep the Nigerian youth from being idle. The idle mind they say is the devil’s workshop. These programs would run everyday after school, weekends and holidays.