From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
Miss World United Nations, Hadassah Allaputa, has unveiled a family pageant geared towards the growth of humanitarian service and contributing to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The pageant which was launched by Allaputa in Abuja and tagged ‘United Nation’s Pageants Nigeria,’ will draw participants from across the length and breadth of Nigeria to slug it out for eight titles.
The categories include: Mrs Nigeria United Nations, Mr Nigeria United Nations, Miss Nigeria United Nations, Ms Nigeria United Nations, Mr Teen United Nations, Miss Teen Nigeria United Nations, amongst others.
Speaking during the launch, Allaputa disclosed that the pageantry was not the same with the regular beauty pageant in Nigeria and will focus more on training and development of participants for the betterment of their communities.
Allaputa further said that rather than have only one winner who will fade out once her one year reign was over, the new pageant will have eight categories of winners who will hold their titles and perform their roles for life.
“Today is the official launch of the United Nation’s Pageants Nigeria, the biggest family pageants, the biggest ever in Nigeria because of its size and the number of pageants under it.
“We would be having eight categories of contestants from different age groups and gender and this complete family pageant will have contestants for eight titles.
“They will be trained, equipped and empowered to become kings and queens, princes and princesses of the United Nations Pageant
“They will serve as role models and ambassadors, carrying out particular SDG goals of the United Nations.
“Apart from its size, another thing that makes this truly unique is that it is aimed at empowering Nigerians across different geo political zones to ensure quality across Nigeria.
“That is why our tag line is ‘uniting Nigeria through pageantry.’ All contestants will be trained to creatively function in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
“They will be taught peace and conflict resolution, etiquette, image branding, humanitarian services, as well as persuasive communication and effective leadership skills,” Allaputa said.
The Founder, Queen Hadassah Legendry further said that the winners who will become part of the UN Royal Family, must acquire the skills to be part of the family.
She added that the skills will be taught to all participants and they will be expected to go back to their local communities to implement a task to improve the lives of those in their communities.
“I want to change the narrative and educate both participants and Nigerians that beauty pageantry is more than a hobby or a show of beauty.
“This is a life time call to service, winners will be reoriented to see pageantry as an act of service that they will take seriously for life.
“Usually, most winners complete their reign and they are forgotten and nobody remembers them as kings or queens, but this time, they will be groomed to be legends,”Allaputa added.