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On Saturday, Chidimma Adetshina was crowned Miss Universe Nigeria. But less than a month before the pageant, she thought she would be competing for a completely different crown.
Adetshina, a 23-year-old law student, was originally a contestant in the Miss South Africa pageant, which was documented on the reality series "Crown Chasers."
According to the BBC, Adetshina has said in interviews that she was born in Soweto, South Africa, and spent her childhood in Cape Town. Her father is from Nigeria, and her mother has both South African and Mozambican heritage.
As Adetshina progressed in the Miss South Africa pageant, some social media users questioned her eligibility to compete and barraged Adetshina with xenophobic messages on platforms like X and Instagram.
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Following the online outcry, the Miss South Africa organization asked the South African Home Affairs Department to "verify" Adetshina's citizenship, as the department shared in a statement on its website on August 7.
In its statement, the department said it launched an investigation and had reasons to believe Adetshina's mother committed "fraud and identity theft" to obtain citizenship for her daughter in 2001. However, the department also said Asetishina herself could not have been involved in the theft since she was an infant at the time of the events in question.
On August 8, Adetshina announced she was withdrawing from the Miss South Africa pageant "for the safety and wellbeing" of both her and her family in a statement on Instagram.
Then, on August 14, she shared in a separate Instagram post that the Miss Universe Nigeria pageant had invited her to compete. She won the pageant on August 31.
Adetshina shared on her Instagram on Sunday that she was "honoured and humbled" to be crowned Miss Universe Nigeria.
She went on to say that her win was a "call to action" and that she hoped to use her platform to bring about "African unity."
"Let's break down the barriers that divide us," she captioned her post. "Let's foster a continent where every African can move freely without prejudice, pursue their dreams, and contribute to the growth and prosperity of our great continent."
Adetshina will represent Nigeria at Miss Universe on November 16. There, she will compete against Miss South Africa Mia le Roux, the first deaf contestant to win the Miss South Africa pageant. Miss USA 2024 Alma Cooper from Michigan will also be vying for the title.
