Chidinma Aaron Emerges Miss Nigeria 2018
Among the 12 finalists contesting for the 2018 Miss Nigeria beauty pageant, Chidinma Aaron, a serving National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) member, was crowned winner. She was crowned at the 42nd Miss Nigeria Coronation event which took place in Lagos recently, while Chisom Dunu, another NYSC member emerged the first runner up, and Munirah Ameh, a program officer, ended up as the second runner up.
As Miss Nigeria, Aaron was presented the prize of N3 million, a luxury apartment and an automobile, after she was crowned by Miss Nigeria 2017, Mildred Ehiguewe.
Giving account of her administration as the ex-Miss Niheria, Ehiguewe said she embarked on educational projects in the rural areas and outreach for the orphans.
She said: “I worked on numerous projects and a few of my favorites were the back to school outreach in the suburbs of Ajegunle Local Government in Lagos state, the dark Lagos outreach, coconut planting, the 300 orphans outreach in Abuja and the kick malaria out football tournament in Akowonjo local government in Lagos.”
The Project Director, Yvonne Anoruo, said that smartness, personality and impact were some of the criteria used in making the selection.
“We had over 1,500 applications this year and you will agree with me that it was quite a hassle cutting down to 18.
“So, we picked from the various states such as Lagos, Abuja, and Owerri. We are looking for girls who are smart, looking at personality, impact, we are looking at people who could hold their own and be valuable to the society.
“People who are socially conscious and determined to make an impact beyond beauty were also considered.
“When we got our top 40 which was difficult. Over the past weeks in Lagos, we had to cut down from 40 to 18 and had a task where the girls were supposed to come up with a campaign that they will likely execute if they became a Miss Nigeria.
“This is very important for us because Miss Nigeria is not just a beautiful girl, she’s also a smart and intelligent girl. So, we created that balance between beauty and brain and the outcome of that exercise is what you are seeing now,” she said.