QUE SERA, SERA…..Whatever will be, will be….
On this Day, in those halcyon times when one had the audacity to dream….
In my late teens, I won my first ever pageant, the MISS MARTINI contest in England, a model search for what was known in those days as the ‘Martini Girl’. I had entered this contest encouraged by my pals, not really expecting to win, which was why after a long event, I was literally on my way out of the venue…almost at the door…when I heard my name boom through the loudspeakers as I was announced the winner. From this file photo one might easily deduce just how overwhelmed I was in the days following the event. I felt a mixture of excitement, panic and confusion…
Why? The star prize was a year’s modeling contract in Japan, a modest cash prize, but most importantly, the chance to appear in one of those glitzy and very popular serialized television commercials for the Martini Rossi Brand, This was a dream I had nursed through those teenage years. Finally it had come true.
The only problem was that I was an ‘A’ level college student at the time , and my final exams were just months away. My parents would not have found it funny at all. They sent me all the way to England for an education, not to win a model contest. It was a tough decision to make. In the end, I opted not to take up the Modeling contract in Japan, and by extension, the advert role, (as both were linked) and ended up instead with the token cash prize. I was deeply saddened by the thought that I had possibly missed the opportunity of a lifetime.
Fast Forward to 1988, several years later, I was presented with an opportunity to contest in the MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN NIGERIA Pageant. (MBGN), which I won. From there, I went on to win the Miss Africa Pageant in Banjul, Miss Drushbah ( Miss Charm International), and became the first African to win the Miss Intercontinental Beauty Pageant, as well as Nigeria’s Queen for Miss Universe and Miss World pageants.
These wins presented me with many other opportunities to appear in multiple media ads for both local and international brands and some lucrative endorsements. The rest is history.
Through Life, regardless of circumstances, Never lose the audacity to dream. One door closes, Another will surely open. Our lives are defined by opportunities- even the ones we miss, and those are unarguably the most powerful motivations for future success.
Whatever will be, will be
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