A Nigerian Londoner has become the latest beauty queen after winning the Miss Black Africa UK pageant on Saturday.
20 year old student Jaqueline Ilumoka, who is currently studying for a degree in Media and Communications at the University of Sussex, became the contests 2014 winner after beating 21 other contestants for the crown.
The event which took place at London’s glamourous Royal Regency Hall, was hosted by comedian Lateef Lovejoy and Ruvimbo Chinzou, who was crowned Miss Black Africa in 2011.
“I’m so excited for what lies ahead,” Ilumuko stated after winning the contest. She will now act as an ambassador for the Miss Black Africa ‘Queens4Africa’ project, the charity department of the pageant, where queens fundraise for and develop a charity project in a region of their choice. Earlier this year the charity refurbished a children’s library at a school in Imo State, Nigeria.
“I look forward to starting my charity project which is the main reason why I entered into the Miss Black Africa Pageant,” Miss Ilumuko added. “I am very passionate about helping the less privileged and now I have the opportunity to do so on a larger scale.”
Judges for the finale included Sporah Njau, host of chat show The Sporah Show, Director of Miss China, Bin Zhang, Founder of the ‘Against All Odds Charity’, Fikelephi Jackson and Founder of Positive Runway: Global Catwalk, Justina Mutale.
Miss Black Africa UK was founded by Dele Onabowu in 2011, and aims to give “young African girls born or living in the United Kingdom a platform to showcase not only their beauty but most importantly their culture, talent and creativity.” The competitions also “seeks to bring out [those] leadership qualities in women.”
Tanzanian model Joanitha Ntangeki took second place on the night while Samrawit Tesema of Ethiopia took third.
