A BEAUTY WITH BRAIN

                               
    
   Our Second Model's  name is Ibiagbanidokibubo Asenite Darego. Hmmm......such a long beautiful name for the cynosure of all eyes.
   
     Agbani Darego for short, was chosen to represent our country at the “Face of Africa” contest. She won and proceeded on by participating in the “Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria” contest. She finished as a runner-up. She later competed in the Miss Universe Pageant. She was 19 years old when she won the Miss World 2001 competition. She was the first ever Nigerian and black African to do so. At that time she was a computer student at the University of Port Hartcourt.

    Agbani Darego born on 22 December 1982 is our Nigerian model, best internationally known as the first Black African Miss World.

    Darego hails from Abonnema, Rivers, and was born into a family of eight children. At ten, Darego was sent to boarding school in a bid to shield her from her mother who had breast cancer. Darego's mother died two years later, and her daughter has spoken of how the loss prepared her for the future. As a teenager, Darego longed to be a model, and despite her conservative father's wishes, she auditioned for the M-Net Face of Africa modelling competition, but was not chosen as a finalist.
 As a model, Darego appeared in print adverts for boutique chain Collectables.
  
    Darego achieved greater success when she won Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria in 2001. Contrary to popular belief, Darego did not replace Valerie Peterside after the latter was dethroned - Peterside had won Miss Nigeria. Darego managed to divide her time between her official duties with her education at the University of Port Harcourt where she was studying Computer Science, and she represented Nigeria in the 2001 Miss Universe competition, held in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. She placed among the top 10 semi-finalists, finishing seventh. She was the only black semi-finalist that year and the only finalist to wear a maillot as opposed to the more popular bikini.

                                             
         
    In November 2001, Darego was crowned Miss World, becoming the first native Sub-Saharan African to claim the title (Although past winners, such as Penelope Coelen and Anneline Kriel, are South African (which is part of the Sub-Sahara), they are of European decsent, and Antigone Costanda, who represented Egypt in 1954 is of Greek heritage). Her victory in the pageant was widely welcomed in her home country, and her one year tenure included goodwill trips and scheduled appearances on behalf of the pageant.
       
         
    Darego was honoured as an Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) after her win as Miss World in 2001. The Nigerian National honours are awarded to Nigerians who have rendered services to the benefit of the nation.
During her reign, she visited a number of countries which included the United Kingdom, South Africa, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, the United States, Germany, Italy, China, Spain and France.

       
    Due to her busy work schedule, Darego left the University of Port Harcourt after she won Miss World, she Studied Psychology at the New York University and graduated in May 20011.Formerly with Next Model Management, she is currently signed to Ford Models in New York. In 2002-2004 she was a spokesperson for L'Oréal cosmetics and is now promoting Arik Airlines.

                                                    
    In 2006, Darego participated in Catwalk the World - Fashion for Food, a global campaign organised by the United Nations World Food Programme which included a fashion show. A photograph which showed her topless during her runway walk was printed in Nigerian newspapers and caused national outrage, with members of the public accusing her of "debasing womanhood and serving as a bad role model to young women" Darego denies that the photograph was intentional. She told an interviewer in 2011: "My body is not for sale, so I can’t pose nude for any amount. I remember the topless pose you are talking about. That question has always been asked me and my answer is the same. It wasn’t perfect. It was just a dress malfunction and that’s what it was...I would never deliberately put myself in such an awkward position."

     Thus,she was brought into the global view and enjoyed a successful career as a model including  doing major campaigns for L’Oréal and other global brands.
She re-enrolled in school at the New York University and has managed to balance her career with her studies and and May 2012,graduated with a degree in Psychology

I am really happy for you girl




 

Wikipedia