A beauty queen who faced xenophobic abuse in South Africa and became the subject of a government investigation has revealed to the BBC that she will be seeking therapy to cope with the ordeal.
Chidimma Adetshina, a finalist in the Miss South Africa beauty contest, faced backlash despite being a South African citizen because her father is Nigerian, and her mother has Mozambican roots.
She withdrew from the contest last month, just one day after the Department of Home Affairs announced that her mother might have committed “identity theft” to obtain South African citizenship.
Following her exit, Ms. Adetshina was invited to participate in Miss Universe Nigeria, which she went on to win. However, she admitted that she had been “suppressing her emotions” throughout the experience.
“It’s just not a nice feeling, I think I’ve been avoiding it a lot and only now it’s started to cloud me,” the 23-year-old told BBC Pidgin in her first round of interviews since winning Saturday’s contest.
“It’s something I will work on and see a therapist,” she added with tears running down her face, “because I feel like I have been suppressing my emotions… because what has happened… it wasn’t a minor thing, it was actually really major.”
Ms. Adetshina, who has previously mentioned being born in Soweto, South Africa, informed BBC Pidgin that she could not discuss the South African government’s ongoing investigation into her nationality, citing it as a “legal matter.”
Despite the challenging weeks she’s faced, the law student described her win as Miss Universe Nigeria as a “deeply empowering moment.”
“Even though it was a rough path for you, you really stepped up,” Ms Adetshina said, describing a message she had been telling herself.
“I think I really give myself that title of a strong black African woman.”
Although many Nigerians were pleased to see her triumph, some felt the way she had entered the competition was unfair on the other contestants.
Ms Adetshina only competed in the final stages of the competition, whereas the other contestants had waged a longer campaign.
“I do get where people are coming from, but at the end of the day I also had my own journey, I had my fair share of going through the process,” Ms Adetshina said.
“There might have been a slight difference, but I feel like I also went through the journey that they went through.”
“I still see myself proudly South African… I still see myself proudly Nigerian,”.
Nigeria’s newly crowned beauty queen has decided to extend her stay in the country of her father’s origin. After a brief visit as a child 20 years ago, she intends to explore more of Nigeria before heading to Mexico in November for the Miss Universe competition.
Representing Nigeria, she will compete against contestants from around the globe, including Mia le Roux, who recently won the Miss South Africa title.
Meanwhile, the investigation by South Africa’s home affairs department into Ms. Adetshina’s nationality is ongoing. The department’s preliminary report suggests that while her mother may have been involved in identity theft, Ms. Adetshina herself could not have participated in any illegal actions as she was an infant at the time.
Asked what message she would send the world following her turbulent experience, Ms Adetshina said: “Set those goals for yourself.
“It might seem too scary but set them and always do everything in your power to make sure you achieve them.”
