Stephanie Alfred from Delta, a 17-year-old student at Babcock University in Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, won the "Face of 9ja" Beauty Model Competition in Badagry, Lagos.
The maiden edition of the model competition, which was held on Sunday night at the Badagry Theatre in Lagos, was won by Alfred, a student of economics and statistics, who bested 19 other competitors.
Alfred, who is 6.2 feet tall, is a native of Delta's Brutu Local Government Area.
Anuoluwapo Awe, 18, from Kogi was named the first runner-up, and Memunat Amino, 20, from Edo was named the second runner-up, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
The first and second runner-up winners also received consolation prizes, according to NAN, and Alfred received a cash prize of N200,000 in addition to other awards.
Speaking earlier, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the 9ja Beauty Model, Miss Sarah Ojehonmon said the aim of the contest was to showcase the beauty of Nigeria’s culture, ethnicity, greatness and religion.
Ojehonmon, who was the first runner-up of Miss Culture Badagry 2021, said “there are lots of things in Nigeria we need to show to the world. That is why we are here.
“These models are young Nigerians who are displaying the beauty of Nigeria to the world.
“We want to use this platform to reach out to the world that the 9ja beauty model is capable of changing, preaching to the world that Nigeria is beautiful.
“The winner of the contest today has a pet project to embark on and this is to empower physically challenged girls that cannot see or walk.
“These people have been neglected in the past forgetting that they can still be creative to help themselves and society,” she said.
“This beauty pageantry is not gender-based, this is the first edition that’s why they are all females between the age of 15 to 29, males can also be part of this pageantry for the subsequent contest.
Also speaking, Mr Jeremiah Aluya the General Manager, 9ja beauty model said:” beauty pageantry or modelling is not all about coming on stage to show yourselves.
”It is more about what can be done as a male or female to help society because anyone that is impacting life is already a model,” he said.