Chief Celestine Okwudili, the founder and chief executive officer of OCO World Foundation, a business conglomerate, says his business outfits will continue to help and encourage the girl child to ensure her brighter future.
Okwudili said this in Nsukka on Tuesday during a press briefing to announce activities lined up for the 2024 (the 5th) edition of the Nsukka Most Beautiful Girl Nigeria (NMBG) contest.
He said one of the aims of the NMBG contest, which started in 2019, was to help and encourage the girl child to achieve a brighter future to enable her to compete favourably with her counterparts globally.
“The NMBG 2024, tagged “The Iconic Queen,” is sponsored by the OCO World Foundation in partnership with the Bet9ja Foundation.
“The aim of the NMBG beauty pageant is not only to help the girl child in Nsukka and Nigeria compete with their counterparts globally, but also to prepare and equip them as future mothers.
“This contest has impacted positively on girls because winners since the maiden edition in 2019 have, through their pet projects, assisted other girls, especially in having access to education,” he said.
According to the founder, Mavis Aruma, who won the NMBG 2020 edition, is today an international figure in modeling and the beauty pageant.
“Mavis and many others were first discovered, show-cased, and crowned by NMBG.
“Mavis has done us proud by excelling nationally and internationally as well as being a role model for many girls,” he said.
Okwudili recalled that the NMBG contest had its first edition for girls in Nsukka and was extended to contestants in the entire Enugu State in the second edition.
He also said the third edition was for the Southeast region, and the fourth edition was for contestants across the country.
The CEO assured that the integrity and transparency that had been the hallmark of the contest since its inception would also be maintained in this year’s fifth edition.
Speaking, Mr. Anyanso Ezekiel, the event manager for the beauty contest, commended the OCO Foundation and Bet9ja for sponsoring the contest for the past four years.
“Your investment in the girl-child yearly is an eloquent testimony that you have the progress and welfare of the girl-child at heart,” he said.
He disclosed that forms for the 2024 edition were already on sale, which would end on July 17.
Ezekiel explained that the contest was open to all Nigerian girls between the ages of 18 and 28.
Anyanso announced that the winner of the NMBG 2024 would win a grand prize of N2 million and an official car, while the 1st and 2nd runners-up would be given N1 million and N500,000, respectively.
He also said N200,000 each would be given to the 4th, 5th, and 6th positions as consolation prices.
In her remarks, Mrs. Rita Ikechukwu, chairman of the contest, urged parents to allow their daughters to participate in the beauty contest, adding that they would stand a chance to benefit from many things.
Ilechukwu said she was working closely with Egbogu Mercy, the welfare manager, to ensure that participants were given everything needed for the contest, as well as adequate security
“We assure parents and guardians that adequate measures have been put in place to ensure adequate security for their daughters,” she said.
Earlier, Comrade Kingsley Nwosu, the consultant for the NMBG 2024 edition, said that all personnel recruited for the contest were working as a team to ensure success in all activities of the contest.
The consultant said that the 2024 edition would maintain the transparency and integrity the contest had been known for since its inception in 2019. (NAN)
