‘My father rendered me homeless for one month,’ says Bianca as she reflects on rejection over beauty pageant participation

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, has shared her experience of facing rejection in Nigeria after participating in a beauty pageant.

Speaking at the Nigerian Women’s Day event during the 69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations headquarters in New York, she recounted how societal expectations challenged her choices as a young woman.

Despite coming from a privileged background, her father having served as a governor in Nigeria, she remained focused on her personal goals.

She emphasized the critical role of education in empowering women, revealing that while her success as a beauty queen brought financial rewards, she was tempted to abandon her law studies at the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus.

However, she ultimately prioritized her education, underscoring its long-term value.

“I started off really as a young girl wanting to see the world,” Bianca said.

“I remember sitting in the common room with other young girls always in those days, we would be watching top of the box, the music videos, Miss World, Miss Universe, and always quite impressed with the exotic backdrops more than anything.

“I just wanted to travel and see the world, and what was the best way of doing that if not going into a pageant?

“So, I started my journey of going first into a certain pageant, which I won. But as a student, I couldn’t take the offer that came, which included a one-year modelling contract in Tokyo.

“Of course, my parents didn’t know. They didn’t send me to school to go and take part in a pageant, so I had to give that up.

“Until when I now took part in the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, which rendered me homeless for one month because naturally African fathers, my father was livid with rage.

“But I guess after I had won other pageantries like Miss Africa, Miss Intercontinental and so forth, he had to come to terms with it.

“But the point I’m making is this, one of the hardest things is when you start earning money quite early, the biggest temptation would be to leave school.

“By the time I was earning my own money, I was a Law student living in the hostel with about six other students with no water, nothing, and then, going back to school to finish my education as a lawyer was quite challenging.

“But that was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. I think young women need to understand the power of education,” she added.