Shirley Nwangere
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11th December, 2010
No Sugar-Daddy Business!…Declares Shirley, Miss ECOWAS ‘10
From nobody’s imagination, Miss Shirley Nwangere has made history, winning hands-down the 2010 edition of the prestigious Miss ECOWAS Peace Pageant.
Before a filled-to-capacity audience at the Miatta Conference Centre in Sierra Leone, exactly three weeks today, the 22-year-old armoured courage and with her natural beauty and sheer intelligence, got hold of the enviable continental crown.
Twenty-seven (27) pretty contenders, including fellow compatriot Miss Ramatu Sidiq, who won this year’s Miss ECOWAS Ghana Pageant, in which Shirley placed first runner-up, had all hoped to clinch the crown.
By this, Shirley has become the newest Peace Ambassador to champion the Youth Peace Initiatives of the ECOWAS Commission for one year, having gallantly picked the baton from her predecessor, Nigeria’s Miss Joy Obasi Ngozika, who won the pageant last year.
This, indeed, is no mean a feat to have been easily sealed by Shirley, a fifth-year student of Optometry at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, who many of her friends generally regard as a calm, bookish person.
So, how did a so-called ‘calm’ person of her manage to nail the crown in such awe, bringing fame and honour to herself and Ghana as a whole? Did she buy her way through, as has often been said of some pageants elsewhere? How has life been for her after winning the crown, and how really does she intend to keep the trust reposed in her as the winner?
These are some of the questions that Spectator Agoro (SA) posed to Shirley on Wednesday on campus, where she is currently engaged by her end-of-semester examinations till December 20.
SA: How does it feel to win such a crown?
Shirley: The feeling is great. When my name was mentioned as the winner, I was both shocked and surprised, not because I didn’t deserve it, but because I really did not know how to celebrate.
SA: Why, is there any special style of celebrating victory?
Shirley: No, I don’t mean that way. What I mean is that, I then began to appreciate how far I’d come and the task ahead of me. It’s really an honour to be crowned the winner out of 27 equally-good contenders from the whole of West Africa.
SA: How did you make it, with the impressive courage and confidence you showed and the fact that some of your friends describe you as a calm person?
Shirley: (starts laughing aloud) It’s not an issue of being calm or not, but rather a motivation to always live up to the billing in anything that I do. I think I wasn’t complacent and ultimately did what was expected of me!
SA: How’s life after the pageant? I heard some big-men (sugar-daddies) prefer to chase pageant winners like you and entice you with cars and other luxuries in life.
Shirley: (still laughing). I don’t think that has happened to me yet, and if it even starts now, I know to handle such situations. Winning such a prestigious crown is no sugar-daddy business, so they better stay off. I know what I’ve been called to do and wouldn’t fail in delivering on that.
SA: What have you then been called to do?
Shirley: Being Miss ECOWAS means a lot. I’m now a Peace Ambassador and with the roadmap that’ll be given me by the ECOWAS Commission, I’ll have to work to promote peace in the sub-region, the youth being my primary target. Personally, I’ve on my heart to visit my brothers and sisters at Dagbon early next year. We need peace in the sub-region and that’s what I know my crown stands for.
Shirley confirmed she would address the ECOWAS Commission before the end of the year, noting that would mark the ‘real’ beginning of her queen-ship.
She thanked her lecturers and Registrar at the KNUST for their understanding and support throughout the entire contest, starting with Miss ECOWAS Ghana in which she placed second, to the continental showdown where she has won the ultimate.
The Miss ECOWAS Peace Pageant, organized by 702 Productions Limited, in collaboration with the ECOWAS Commission, emphasizes the importance of peace-building and consolidation in the West African sub-region, Spectator Agoro wishes Shirley well!
Before a filled-to-capacity audience at the Miatta Conference Centre in Sierra Leone, exactly three weeks today, the 22-year-old armoured courage and with her natural beauty and sheer intelligence, got hold of the enviable continental crown.
Twenty-seven (27) pretty contenders, including fellow compatriot Miss Ramatu Sidiq, who won this year’s Miss ECOWAS Ghana Pageant, in which Shirley placed first runner-up, had all hoped to clinch the crown.
By this, Shirley has become the newest Peace Ambassador to champion the Youth Peace Initiatives of the ECOWAS Commission for one year, having gallantly picked the baton from her predecessor, Nigeria’s Miss Joy Obasi Ngozika, who won the pageant last year.
This, indeed, is no mean a feat to have been easily sealed by Shirley, a fifth-year student of Optometry at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, who many of her friends generally regard as a calm, bookish person.
So, how did a so-called ‘calm’ person of her manage to nail the crown in such awe, bringing fame and honour to herself and Ghana as a whole? Did she buy her way through, as has often been said of some pageants elsewhere? How has life been for her after winning the crown, and how really does she intend to keep the trust reposed in her as the winner?
These are some of the questions that Spectator Agoro (SA) posed to Shirley on Wednesday on campus, where she is currently engaged by her end-of-semester examinations till December 20.
SA: How does it feel to win such a crown?
Shirley: The feeling is great. When my name was mentioned as the winner, I was both shocked and surprised, not because I didn’t deserve it, but because I really did not know how to celebrate.
SA: Why, is there any special style of celebrating victory?
Shirley: No, I don’t mean that way. What I mean is that, I then began to appreciate how far I’d come and the task ahead of me. It’s really an honour to be crowned the winner out of 27 equally-good contenders from the whole of West Africa.
SA: How did you make it, with the impressive courage and confidence you showed and the fact that some of your friends describe you as a calm person?
Shirley: (starts laughing aloud) It’s not an issue of being calm or not, but rather a motivation to always live up to the billing in anything that I do. I think I wasn’t complacent and ultimately did what was expected of me!
SA: How’s life after the pageant? I heard some big-men (sugar-daddies) prefer to chase pageant winners like you and entice you with cars and other luxuries in life.
Shirley: (still laughing). I don’t think that has happened to me yet, and if it even starts now, I know to handle such situations. Winning such a prestigious crown is no sugar-daddy business, so they better stay off. I know what I’ve been called to do and wouldn’t fail in delivering on that.
SA: What have you then been called to do?
Shirley: Being Miss ECOWAS means a lot. I’m now a Peace Ambassador and with the roadmap that’ll be given me by the ECOWAS Commission, I’ll have to work to promote peace in the sub-region, the youth being my primary target. Personally, I’ve on my heart to visit my brothers and sisters at Dagbon early next year. We need peace in the sub-region and that’s what I know my crown stands for.
Shirley confirmed she would address the ECOWAS Commission before the end of the year, noting that would mark the ‘real’ beginning of her queen-ship.
She thanked her lecturers and Registrar at the KNUST for their understanding and support throughout the entire contest, starting with Miss ECOWAS Ghana in which she placed second, to the continental showdown where she has won the ultimate.
The Miss ECOWAS Peace Pageant, organized by 702 Productions Limited, in collaboration with the ECOWAS Commission, emphasizes the importance of peace-building and consolidation in the West African sub-region, Spectator Agoro wishes Shirley well!
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