By: Natasha Archary

Chidimma Adetshina is hopeful her diversity will win her the Miss Universe Nigeria title.
The 23-year-old was invited to participate in Miss Universe Nigeria following the controversy around her South African nationality, and subsequent withdrawal from the Miss SA 2024 contest.
Hoping she can create unity by sharing her story of diversity, Chidimma who is in Nigeria currently, says she is happy to be back in her father’s country.
Chidimma’s father is Nigerian and she claims her mother, who is of Mozambican descent, was born in South Africa.
The aspiring beauty queen’s quest for the Miss South African crown ended after a probe into her citizenship resulted in Home Affairs finding prima facie evidence that her mother may have committed fraud by stealing another woman’s identity.
Home Affairs has issued Chidimma Adetshina’s mother a letter to explain how she came to possess the South African ID which was used to register her daughter at birth.
Sharing her vision should she win the Miss Universe Nigeria title, Chidimma expressed her dream to build bridges instead of walls.
“My superpower is my diversity. An initiative that is close to my heart is UNITY IN DIVERSITY, with the aim of promoting inclusion and acceptance.
By being inclusive, we give people a sense of belonging regardless of their background, identity and ability. Inclusion is all about recognising that our differences is what makes us stronger and that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
Acceptance is about us embracing our differences and creating an environment with everyone feels valued and supported. It’s about breaking down the barriers and challenging our mindset.
Let us build bridges, not walls.
Let us unite, not divide.
Let us show the world what it means to be African, proud and free.Together we can achieve greatness.
Together we can build a brighter future for ourselves, our children and our continent.”



