Hey Nairalanders!
Was wondering how people feel about a British-Nigerian representing Nigeria in an international beauty pageant?

Miss Nigeria is always Nigerian-Nigerian, never British-Nigerian, American-Nigerian ect.

How would you feel about your next Miss Nigeria having a British accent?

Do her values, passion and elegance matter more that her dual nationality? Does the dual nationality matter at all as long as she is of Nigerian blood and is patriotic?

On the pageant's official website it says[b] 'The contestants will not only carry a worthy title but will also serve our great nation by becoming ambassadors and positive role models to Nigerian women and Nigerians in the Diaspora.' [/b]Therefore do you welcome the idea of Nigerians living anywhere in the world representing us or oppose it and why?

As a hopeful I thought I'd put it out there and ask! View my promo vid here: http://www.youtube.com/embed/VsSdZC07Qho

Hello Yemmi,

I've just read your post and seen your video. As a fellow London girl who has been following pageants for most of her life and editing the Wikipedia pages of MBGN and Miss Nigeria, I think that you should be commended for competing in Miss Nigeria as an international contestant, but I also understand your apprehension.

It is a well-known fact that Nigerians in general do not take kindly to their own kinsmen who sound foreign - the television presenter Adaure Achumba received some well-documented criticism for her American drawl which overshadowed her presenting skills. When I first visited Nigeria at the age of eight, no one criticised me whenever I sounded Nigerian (I adopted the accent almost as soon as I got off the plane because I wanted to fit in), but they called me a "fake" as soon as my natural British accent was used...oh the irony! These days, I speak like the proud Brit that I am, and I don't really care what anyone says. Yes, I am proud of my Nigerian roots, but at the end of the day it's what I speak that's important, as opposed to how I speak.

Two years ago, Miss Nigeria Ireland 2009 Emmanuella Salako competed in Miss Nigeria 2010 and placed in the top five, despite her slight Irish accent. There have also been a number of pageant winners from Nigeria who had British accents when they were crowned, most notably Nike Oshinowo and Emma Komlosy who won MBGN in 1991 and 1996 respectively, although I believe they toned it down when they went to represent Nigeria at Miss World, and Toyin Raji, another former MBGN who was named Miss Congeniality at Miss Universe 1995 sounded very American. Their reign raised several eyebrows as most believed that they were not a true representation of Nigeria, but that was nothing compared to the backlash former Miss Minnesota USA Erica Nego faced when she represented Ghana at Miss Universe 2011, albeit as Yayra Nego - you only need to search for MISS UNIVERSE 2011 - Ghana on YouTube to view the nasty comments.

Unlike Erica and Emma, you happen to be dark-skinned, and that is a good thing, because light-skinned girls have dominated pageants for too long, and you''ll probably be the one to break that curse! I also admire how you kept your Afrocentrism by wearing braids in your video, and you look like a girl who is hard-working, which is exactly what Miss Nigeria is looking for, and of course it helps that you are very well-spoken, unlike most contestants I know. Miss Nigeria organisers tend to select natural girls like yourself, unlike the artificial hopefuls at rival contest MBGN - some of the girls there actually look like they belong on Snog, Marry, Avoid...I'm not joking! My advice to you is simply be yourself and speak naturally. If you change your way of speaking to please everybody, that will come across as fake, and yes the audience may boo if you sound British, but let them boo all they bloody want, at least you stayed true to yourself. Which is better - being a role-model or wearing a crown that is based on fakery?

I won't be in Nigeria when you compete, but you do have a supporter in me. Good luck!

Jemma Bond