Ezinne Akudo, Miss Nigeria : My saddest moment

For Miss Nigeria, Ezinne Akudo, life as a beauty queen is all about working closely with the victims of sexual violence. In an exclusive chat with The Entertainer, the newly crowned damsel and graduate of law from Abia State University disclosed that her decision to work with rape victims stemmed from her experience last year after her close friend fell victim.

“It was a very touching experience for me. My very good friend was raped last year and you can only imagine the trauma she went through. That made me realise how close it could get, how vulnerable we all are. It could happen to anybody including me; rape is the trending evil right now. I was there by her side all through and I watched her pass through it all. I am happy she is okay now and has gotten over the traumatic experience.


“It’s going to be a total campaign against sexual violence in Nigeria and right now, we are at the drawing board. We are looking at talking to victims and creating awareness about sexual violence. We will be talking to parents, their kids and all stakeholders. Because of the stigma attached to rape, we are also working on an emergency help line, which will provide counseling for victims. We’ll be talking about rape and how to avoid it,” she said.

Are you a teenaged girl out there on campus or in any part of the country? Then you are a potential rape victim. Akudo has a word of advice for you as far as avoiding rape is concerned: “If you’re in school, don’t ever move alone. I wasn’t walking alone in school; I always moved in groups. Or you could ask a guy to accompany you especially when going out at night on campus. So, the first thing you do is don’t move around alone but move in groups.”

However, she admonishes: “It’s even those you trust most that can surprise you with rape so the most important thing is don’t put yourself in compromising situations.”

Childhood
Born to a family of four, 22-year-old Akudo is the second child of her parents. She says she is from an average family and was not born with a silver spoon. However, her parents made sure she and her siblings got all they desired while growing up.
“I grew up in Owerri. Our parents were there for us. We had everything we wanted though my parents were not moneybags. They were very dedicated to giving me and my siblings the best in life,” she recalled.

Once upon a dream
Akudo disclosed that until a few years ago, she never dreamed of being a beauty queen, but after watching her friend contest at the 2011 edition of Miss Nigeria, she decided to give it a shot. However, she never believed she had what it took to win.
Recounting the experience of the last three months, Akudo, who was crowned on Saturday, July 6, 2013 said: “It’s been wonderful. People treat me like a queen. My new schedule has taken me away from most of my friends and most friends don’t understand that. I feel like I have a lot of work to do. Apart from the joy that came with the victory, I feel I have a lot of work to do.
“I wouldn’t say I knew that I was going to win because there were a lot of pretty girls in there with me that night and it could have gone any way. However, I was just positive because everybody in there wanted to win.”

Shocked
“When my name was announced I didn’t believe it! I was still staring into space when I heard my name and then the other contestants rushed towards me and started hugging me. It took a while for it to dawn on me that I had won. At that point, I had many things going through my mind. I shed tears of joy. I was happy I made my mum and family proud,” Akudo said.

Months after, how has Miss Nigeria impacted her world?

Her response: “I think it has made me to be a more organized person. When you have a particular schedule you have to stick to it in terms of movement. I have met so many important people. The title has opened a lot of doors for me.”

How has she been coping with her new schedule?
“I have been trying. My movement has been restricted. You know as a queen you can’t live the way you used to live and do a lot of things you used to do. I am still adjusting to my new life as a queen. With time I will get used to this. There are just so many things involved. I am still trying to get used to being a queen. Before I could do anything but now it’s different. I am missing my family and friends.
In fact, I am missing my freedom.”

Akudo says one thing she would not forget soon is her mum’s advice after she won the crown. Hear her: “Mum has always been very supportive of me. She was right there in the audience when I won the crown. She said I shouldn’t forget where I am coming from. I should always remember to pray because she raised me very well.”

Aside a Toyota corolla, the queen also got a whopping N3 million as grand prize. Has she paid her tithes? 

“Yes, I have paid my tithes,” she says laughing.

So, what has she done for her parents who have been standing behind her and giving her all the support? She laughs even more as she responds: “What I gave my mum for her support is between the both of us. That goes for my dad too but I can assure you that they are very happy.”

Now that she is Miss Nigeria, what are her fears?
“I don’t really have fears because I have a very good team so I believe the sky is the limit for me.”

Saddest moment
According to Akudo, her saddest moment since she became queen was losing her close friend who died a few weeks after she was crowned. “I lost a friend of mine a while ago. He was my campus pastor. His name was Emmanuel Akibi. It affected me a great deal because we were very close. We were friends throughout my days at Abia State University (ABSU). His death was a big shock for me,” she lamented.

Advise
Akudo has a word of advice for youngsters who want to go into beauty pageantry. She says they should be focused and determined: “Be yourself. You can be whatever you want to be. Don’t let anyone discourage you by telling you that you’re not good enough or you’re too short or whatever. Discover your passion and let it be your driver.”

Dreams
“I have always wanted to be a TV presenter and have my own talk show but I studied law so, I also want to be an international humanitarian lawyer working with a platform like the Red Cross.”

Love life
Beauty queens are not expected to talk about their love lives on the pages of newspapers. However, Akudo painted a picture of her ideal man. “I have not lost any of my friends because of my new crown, but I want to keep issues about my love life private. I love a guy that’s passionate about serving God. Any guy that doesn’t really love God can’t love a lady. I am impressed about guys who are God fearing. I am not a fan of very fair guys. I’m down with chocolate skinned guys,” she concludes with a soft laugh.