Inspirations: Agbani Darego, Nigeria's First Miss World

Agbani Darego

Darego was born in 1982, in a  town called Abonnema in the Rivers State area of Southern Nigeria. Her full name is Ibiagbanidokibubo Asenite Darego, and she was the sixth of eight children in her family.

Her father was a customs official, while her mother, Inaewo, had a rice-trading business which caused her to travel very frequently. On her trips, Inaewo bought clothing and sold it in a clothing boutique. It was in this boutique that her daughter, Darego spent many hours in as a little girl, paging through foreign fashion magazines. Darego was later sent off to a boarding school when she was ten years old.

Two years after she went to school, her mother died of breast cancer, and Darego realized she had been sent away to shield her from her mother's condition. 

"I wasn't too happy at first, but it prepared me for my life now," she reflected about being away from home in an interview with Julia Llewellyn Smith of the Mail on Sunday. "I learned to be on my own. It makes you independent."

Since she was little, Ibiagbani Dokibubo Asenite Darego popularly known as Agbani Darego had always dreamed of becoming a model, a career plan dismissed by her father. At six feet, she was unusually tall for a Nigerian-everyone in her family was above-average height-and she was slimmer than the prevailing standard of beauty.

"The way most women look in Nigeria is not the Western ideal," she explained to Garner in the Evening Standard interview.

"In my country, short, curvy women are thought beautiful, not me." Such extra pounds are considered a sign of health and prosperity, and some brides-to-be in Nigeria even cloister themselves in what is known as a "fattening room" two weeks before the wedding in order to gain weight.

Darego had a back-up plan, to study computer science, and had secured a place at a university. She deferred it, however, and began making the rounds of modeling agencies in Lagos, and began entering pageants. In "The Face of Africa" modeling contest, she placed as a runner-up. In January of 2001, she won the "Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria" contest, which made her eligible for the Miss World pageant later that year.

The global-beauty event was held in Sun City, South Africa, and that year was hosted by American television personality, Jerry Springer. Initially, Darego was a long shot to win, but that year's contest had a new feature: television viewers could phone in and vote for their favorite contestant.

On that November evening, Darego became Miss World 2001 and failed to erupt in tears. It was the first time in recent memory that the winner had maintained her composure.

Darego was the first Nigerian to win the Miss World crown, but more importantly, was the first black woman from an African country to win it. Black women had won the title before, but they hailed from Caribbean lands.

Three other women from African nations had taken the crown over the years, but two were white women from South Africa and the other an Arabic contestant from Egypt in the 1950s.

There were massive celebrations in Nigerian cities the same night that Darego was crowned, and when she returned to Nigeria for her first official visit she met with government ministers and took part in a four-day celebration.

She was even made an honorary member of the Council of Chiefs in Lagos, an extraordinary honor for a woman as young as she was and one that made her the country's youngest chief.

Darego chose to become a patron of a breast-cancer awareness program and dedicated her crown to her mother. She also devoted time during her Miss World year to an anti-malaria campaign. "I had malaria as a child, but I was privileged to have hospital treatments," she explained in the Mail on Sunday interview with Smith.

"So many others die because they can't get drugs." She spent much of the year traveling, but used London as her base, in a home she shared with her younger sister. All told, she walked the Great Wall of China, attended the Cannes Film Festival and England's Royal Ascot-where she wore a stunning fuchsia ensemble and requisite elaborate hat-and was photographed for American Vogue.

Darego landed a three-year contract with L'Oreal, the cosmetics giant, during her Miss World year. A born-again Christian, she does not drink or smoke, and had rarely even worn makeup prior to her Miss World year.

She had ambitious plans for the rest of her career. "I'm not going to be a model for the rest of my life," she told the Evening Standard's Garner. "I want to be a successful businesswoman. I want to be good at everything." However, there have been rumors going around social network sites and blogs, which claim that former Miss World, Agbani Darego, 29, is engaged to be married to former Governorship aspirant and politician Timi Alaibe, aged 50.

Courtesy:

All Africa