Chidimma Adetshina has expressed her gratitude to Nigeria as well as Africa for their love and unwavering support after being crowned the first runner-up at the Miss Universe 2024 pageant held in Mexico.
Miss Denmark, Victoria Kjaer Theilvig, was crowned the winner, while Chidimma was named the titleholder for Miss Universe Africa and Oceania.
The 23-year-old’s journey to Miss Universe was not smooth sailing due to controversy surrounding her citizenship.
Chidimma competed in the 2024 Miss South Africa competition during which she was subjected to trolling and xenophobic due to her Nigerian heritage.
The beauty queen was born and raised in South Africa, but her mother is a Mozambican national and her father is Nigerian.
She was eventually forced to withdraw from the Miss South Africa pageant in August after the South Africa Home Affairs alleged that her parents had committed identity fraud to make her a South African citizen around the time of her birth.
Taking to Instagram, Chidimma revealed that stating that Nigeria helped her during a time when she was about to give up on her life.
“To Nigeria: Thank you is not enough for all the support you ‘ve shown. You picked me up when I was at my lowest,” she wrote.
“I ’ve never opened up much but I was ready to give up on my life but you became my strength. On days I never wanted to fight you gave me the strength to fight. I ‘m so grateful for each and everyone for working on this journey with me.”
She also expressed her gratitude to Africa for supporting her.
“To Africa: thank you for showing your love and support. As much as I represented Nigeria, Africa fought for me. My voice, my story touched many and brought us together,” she wrote.
“This journey has taught me the power of Unity. I want us to live in a society where we can all accept and celebrate one another.
“This is not the end but the beginning of my journey.”
