March 17, (THEWILL)- Entrepreneur and former Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, Anita Uwagbale, speaks with IVORY UKONU about what she has been up to since winning the beauty pageant in 2004 and how it has impacted her life. Excerpts:
It has been 20 years since you won the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria beauty pageant. What was it like winning the pageant at that time and how has it shaped your perception of life?
I emerged as winner of the 17th edition of the MBGN beauty pageant, succeeding Cecilia Bissong of Cross River State. This was in 2004. I was 19 years-old at the time and a second-year Accountancy student at Madonna University, Anambra State. My journey extended beyond the MBGN. I also won the African Continental Queen of Beauty and was named among the top 15 semi-finalists at the Miss World 2004 contest.
This feat wasn’t just a victory but the fulfilment of a lifelong dream nurtured as the only girl among five brothers. Winning the pageant has helped me to maintain my distinctiveness and open-mindedness. My involvement in international pageants broadened my horizons. However, I believe the MBGN competition differs significantly from international competitions. The scale and glamour increases considerably on the international stage, particularly at Miss Universe.
In my time, I participated in Miss Universe, Miss World and Miss Tourism International beauty pageants. Nowadays, each of these competitions has its own set of contestants. I took part in all three. Miss Universe was my initial venture onto the international stage. It was a mix of excitement and nervousness to compete against delegates from 70-plus nations. Miss World, on the other hand, was on a larger scale.
Representing my country at Miss World felt more comfortable, and I had a delightful experience. Making it to the top 15 globally and earning the title African Queen at Miss World remains a cherished moment. Miss Tourism was a smaller pageant where I earned the first runner-up title. The pageant was held in Ukraine and it was an unforgettable experience that still feels fresh in my memory.
Back in the day, most Nigerian parents frowned at modelling, talk more of beauty pageants. How did your parents react to your decision to become a model and a register for a beauty pageant?
Growing up as an only daughter with five brothers, I have always been that girl that people saw as a natural model. When Agbani Darego won the Miss World pageant and became the first African to do so, people literally began to call me Agbani when I walked past. They encouraged me to enter beauty pageants. So that sort of prepared my family for what was to come as they got used to it. I always knew that was what I wanted to do. Funny now that I recall telling my juniors in secondary school not to leave water under my bunk because I was going to be a Miss Nigeria. I didn’t even know what it entailed, but that was where the seed got sown. But I think those days of parents frowning at modelling or beauty pageants are gone. Now parents are more open to such things, as long as you are not a minor participating in them.
After 20 years, what has changed about you?
I still feel like the same person crowned decades ago. But my life journey goes beyond pageantry. I got married and got divorced. I was married to Tom Iseghohi, a former group managing director of Transcorp Plc for over 12 years. I had kids and started some businesses which I still run. One of them is a baby Store in Victoria Island, Lagos. I set it up to address the scarcity of quality baby products in Nigeria when I had my first son. I didn’t plan to have him in Nigeria, but I did. So I was trying to find children and baby items without having to go to the local market and I found it was so hard to locate any. There were only a few stores that stocked baby items. So that inspired me to start the baby store. I wanted to offer a range of clothing, toys, and premium baby items that are easily accessible and affordable.
Twenty years of MBGN? Life just happens, but it feels like the other years. It’s amazing how much time flies. Twenty years sounds like it has been ages, but it’s just 20 years ago.
It is common belief that beauty queens lose their relevance after their tenure ends. What is your submission on this?
If you think about it, pageants are organised annually. So, every year, a new queen will be crowned and the attention goes to the reigning queen. It is a normal trajectory of life. Even in government. The present government has all the attention, but when it leaves and there is a new administration, the attention shifts and focuses on the new government. It is normal, but I think it boils down to how one is able to stay relevant during his tenure and after handing over, what the person is able to build on that relevance using the experience garnered from travelling around the world and all of the things you have been able to absorb. I think that is what keeps one going. For me that is relevant.
I may not have been relevant in a public sense after relinquishing my crown, but the experiences I had in one year (you grow ten times more than normal girls in your age grade) I put them back into my life. For me relevance is not all about being everywhere and anywhere, it is what you have been able to do with the knowledge that you gathered from that one year of exposure, afterwards that matters. That is what I define as remaining relevant.
How has it been running the baby store?
Running a baby store opened my eyes to a lot of things, when it comes to babies’ things. I was shocked that most parents spend more on their outfits than on their children. For me, that was quite surprising. I also learnt that it is best to stay in the middle, as people have different ideas with kids and how long they want to keep those items. It was an eye opener for me. But I am relaunching the store to focus more on educational and interactive toys for children aged zero to ten.
I have also embraced e-commerce platforms to reach a wider audience and cater to the evolving needs of Nigerian parents. The reason I am embracing e-commerce for the baby store is because I get affected by other people’s decisions. Let’s say, for instance, I pay my share of service charge in the mall where I was located, but another business enterprise will not pay and the entire mall would be shut down until just one-person cooperates and does the needful. It was quite discouraging. But I took a step back for a while to revamp and re-strategise the business.
You also run a printing company, a luxury hamper company, nutritionist and weight loss coach via your wellness outfit, FitandFabNg. How do you juggle these businesses and still find time to nurture children?
I am intentional about nurturing my children and I always make time out of no time to be there for them always. You know women are born multi taskers, so that helps.
What are some of the challenges you have encountered while running your businesses?
Any business owner in Nigeria must prepare their mind to fail if it doesn’t work. Currency fluctuations, climates, and infrastructure issues are some of the challenges faced in Nigerian business ventures. Everybody is affected. Doing business in Nigeria is challenging. Challenges are everywhere. Regarding my printing press, when the prices are too high, people are supposed to request reflective jackets. For my nutrition venture, it was a different experience. It’s easy for people to say they want to look a certain way, but when it’s time to put in the work, they don’t want to. It is quite disappointing because we know how we want to be.
How would you define your personal style?
I am more of a classic person. I like styles that remain through all fashion phases. I like outfits that I can wear in 10, 15 years’ time and it will still be in style. I don’t follow trends. I like well-tailored pieces, clean cuts, and quality fabrics. I love to look feminine.
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