My testimonies as Miss Nigeria– Lessi Peter-Vigboro

In November of 2015 Lessi Peter-Vigboro had her childhood fantasy staring her in the face and waking her up from the dream land to reality when she was crowned the 39th Miss Nigeria. For the 23 years old, Rivers State-born, University of Port Harcourt’s computer science graduate, it was an opportunity to reach out to other people, and make a difference. But Before winning the Miss Nigeria pageant, she had participated in two pageants earlier which sort of prepared her for the big one. She won the Miss Ogoni pageant and was third runner-up for Miss Niger Delta. Winning Miss Nigeria came with some testimonies and she shares them with us: What was it like being part of Miss Nigeria? The contest was one of the best I have ever been part of. I had to challenge myself and put up the right kind of mindset. That was one of the best moments of my life because I pushed myself and I like the result that came out of it. What is your motive for being part of beauty pageants? I think every little girl has this dream or fantasy of being a princess. As a little girl I have always been fascinated by the glamour. But growing up I became part of a lot of volunteering works and I felt that pageantry will give me a bigger platform to make impact.

Do you think without pageants you won’t have the reach and the impact? Without pageants you can definitely make impact. You can make an impact even without having an NGO but it’s more about you wanting to do it. You don’t necessarily have to be a beauty queen before you make an impact. That said, pageants give you a very wide platform. I didn’t take it serious when I was in school because I had my studies to focus on. I had to find time to balance school and modeling. It was so challenging, but because it’s something I enjoy, I was able to juggle both. Why did you keep trying after being part of other beauty pageants? What happened was that I had bought the form for Miss Nigeria in 2014 and it didn’t hold that year. I rounded off school and went for youth service and I found out that they were doing audition, but because I had bought the form I decided to be part of it, because I didn’t want to waste the money I used to purchase the form. Going in there, I decided to give it my best shot mentally and if it doesn’t work it won’t be because I didn’t try. I guess God rewarded my efforts What gave you an edge over the other contestants? Truth is, there were other pretty, smart girls. I kept a positive mindset and God is also a factor in it. During the point of selecting a winner, we had a tie between the first runner-up and me. I was asked a question during the tie about my business. I was asked to talk about my business’s unique selling proposition and I had learnt something about that during the business plan competition we had in camp. I had to talk about what will make my business stand out. I think that also gave me an edge. What were your plans when you won the pageant and how far have you gone with it? Well, in as much as I know that beauty pageants are fun and glamourous, my plan is to give back to the society and learn from the experience. I hope to come out a better, stronger and wiser woman. I have been working with some organizations. For now. I don’t have an NGO of my own but it doesn’t stop me from being involved in some activities. Right now, I am working with an organization to raise awareness on breast cancer. We just concluded a charity marathon with Edo State, where we tested women and were able to raise some funds. I also engage in some programmes involving orphanages. I made it a point to use my platform to advocate for peace and non-violence agitation because it’s important to me as well. I am from Ogoni in the Niger-Delta region and a lot of cases of violence go on there. I try to use my platform to advocate for peace and non-violence resolution of issues. We’ve also had some environmental issues in that region, so I also use my platform to promote the environment in a good way to see how we can have a healthy environment. What would you have been if you weren’t a beauty queen? I love to write, so I hope to be an author someday. I’ll definitely pursue that. I’m sure that I would have been in a company taking a regular job, but my passion is writing. So what has changed about you since you became Miss Nigeria? I’m not a very dressy person, I like to be simple a lot, but a whole lot of glamour comes with my position, so my dressing has changed. This experience has also made me think properly about the decisions I make. I think I’m a more responsible person because I have a brand and image to uphold. There have been cases of exploitation in pageants, what has been your experience in that regard? I’ve not had such an experience. Maybe by intuition or perception, I think that’s probably why I went for Miss Nigeria, because right from the onset, the brand has been synonymous with the right kind of values. It tries to portray the Nigerian woman in a good light and also brings out the potential of the Nigerian woman. It’s a very transparent, free and fair pageant. The experience so far has been good and what my handlers do is push me to bring out the best in me. What has being a beauty queen taught you? I’ve learnt that I have to be held responsible for the decisions I make and that I should always find a way to give back to the society. I’ve learnt to be more interactive with people to build relationships because it is required. My communication skills are getting better. Generally, I’ve learnt to improve on myself. People expect a lot from a beauty queen, so it has pushed me to invest a lot in myself so I can be better prepared. Can you tell us about your love life? Before I got into this, I wasn’t in a relationship. And when I got into this I was told that I need to be focused. So it wasn’t much of a challenge to me because I wasn’t already in a relationship. Being in the public eye now, you get a lot male attention, how do you handle that? Being a beautiful woman, whether you’re a beauty queen or not, you’ll always get male attention. It’s something that happens in every girl’s life. As a grown up young girl, I’ve been able to manage that, so I still apply the same strategies. What strategies do you apply? I just try not to do whatever I’m not comfortable with. I stick to my values basically and whatever resonates with me.