The grand finale of Asaigbo Beauty Pageant was held last month at the All Seasons Hotel, Owerri, Imo State, with Miss Jane Nnadozie emerging the winner of the contest.
On parade at the event which started at about 7:00 p.m., with a red carpet reception and continued to the wee hours of the next day were a bevy of beauties in their natural elements.
The guests at the occasion included Nollywood actor, Kanayo .O. Kanayo, Chief Debe Odumegwu Ojukwu, Imo State Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development, Iheukwuemere Alaribe, the Majority Leader of Imo State House of Assembly, Hon Adaku Ihuoma, Eze Ekwueme Ekwueme, the monarch of Ochiudo Awarra community, the Director-General of Imo Broadcasting Corporation and a host of others.
According to Sunnews report, "The guests had waited patiently for the panel judges which included Queen Continental Nigeria, Queen Marvis Azubuike, Dr Peter Nwulu, Princess Nwachukwu , Barrister Ijoma and Mr Chima Obi Onu to take their decision on who is the most beautiful amongst the damsels on parade."
In the end, they declared Miss Jane Nnadozie the Asaigbo Queen for 2014 among the 20 contestants and the hall erupted in cheers.
Miss Jane Nnadozie, 21, from Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State and a student of History and International Affairs at the Imo State University, Owerri beat the 19 other contestants to emerge the new Miss Asaigbo Beauty Queen for 2014/2015.
She was consequently handed over the keys of a brand new Toyota Corolla which is the star prize by Mr Mike Akubueze, the president of Asaigbo Foundation.
The new beauty queen who was overwhelmed with joy thanked her fellow contestants for their spirit of sportsmanship.
She also thanked the members of the Asaigbo Foundation and pledged not to bring the name of the Foundation to disrepute, assuring that she would ensure that the values for which the pageant was established was upheld throughout her reign.
According to the President of the Asaigbo Foundation and promoter of the pageant, Mr Mike Akubueze, the show was conceptualized to accommodate six different beauty pageants which are Miss Asa Imo, Miss Asa Abia, Miss Asa Anambra, Miss Asa Enugu, and Miss Asa Ebonyi, from where five contestants from each of the states were selected to compete for the grand finale.
He disclosed that besides promoting the pure beauty of the Igbo woman and culture, the pageant was also initiated to use the face of the winner as a brand to fight the cause of the poor Igbo girl child who has been abandoned in the major cities of the South-East to hawk “sachet water” and groundnuts.
“In essence, these contestants you are watching perform this night are just the face of Asa Igbo Foundation while the poor Igbo girl child hawking oranges and groundnuts in the major streets of the South-East are in the heart of the Foundation. We are aware of the maxim that says; when you train a man, you have trained only one person but when you train a girl, you have trained a nation.
“The winner who is going to be the face of Asa Igbo Foundation for one year will partner with us in identifying these Igbo girls who ought to be in school but are not and grant them scholarship from primary to university level,” he said.
Also speaking, Chief Debe Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the grand patron of the Asaigbo Foundation commended the foundation for promoting the Igbo culture through the pageant.
He noted that Asa in Igbo parlance connotes the highest quality of beauty and fertility, saying that anything that is contrary to that must be discarded.
Debe Ojukwu called Akpunwa of Nnewi admonished Igbo youths not only to be hard working but to also be proud of their cultural heritage as the future of the Igbo nation belongs to them.
Similarly, Nollywood star, Kanayo. O. Kanayo commended the Foundation for its vision in promoting the cultural heritage of Ndigbo through the Asaigbo Beauty Pageant, pledging to support the activities of the foundation to achieve the vision for which it was established.
The Foundation also used the occasion to honour some distinguished personalities including; the Imo State Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere, the Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly (Best Speaker in Igbo land), Kanayo .O. Kanayo (Best all time Igbo actor in Nollywood), Traditional Ruler of Ochiudo – Awarra, Eze Ekwueme Ekwueme (Best cultural and youth friendly monarch in Igbo land). Others include the Majority Leader of the Imo State House of Assembly, Hon.Adaku Ihuoma (Best female politician in Igbo land), Evangelist Esther Obong Egbuna, DG IBC (Best media chief executive), Chief Sunday Onyebuchi (Best entrepreneur in Igbo land 2014), Mr Collins Amadi (Best telecom businessman in Igbo land 2014) and the Imo State Police Commissioner, Abdul Majid Ali as the (Best CP in Igbo land 2014). source: Sunnewsonline
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