Agbani Darego
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Born Ibiagbanidokibubo Asenite Darego, and affectionately known as "Agbani," she elected Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria in 2001 in one of the most eagerly anticipated pageants in the history of the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria pageant. As Miss Rivers, she was the youngest winner of the pageant up to that point at 18 years of age.
While a first-year student of the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria (where she majored in Computer Science), she represented Nigeria in the Miss Universe 2001 competition, held in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. She placed among the top 10 semi-finalists, finishing seventh. She was the only black semi-finalist that year.
She later won the title of Miss World 2001 held in South Africa. This made her the first-ever black African winner of the title. The show was hosted by US talk show host Jerry Springer, and her victory was widely welcomed in Nigeria as good news. Nigeria was just getting out of an extended stretch of military dictatorships, the economy was largely in the dumps, and people were eager for some good news. The surprise win gave fresh impetus to the beauty pageant industry in the country, and vindicated the optimistic prediction of the organizer of the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria competition, who had said that his aim in starting the competition more than 10 years earlier was to produce a Nigerian winner of either Miss World or Miss Universe.
Agbani Darego dropped out of the University of Port Harcourt after her reign as Miss World ended. She is currently pursuing a modelling career in Europe, with attempts to break out in North America. She is signed to Next Model Management.
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| Preceded by: Priyanka Chopra |
Miss World 2001 |
Succeeded by: Azra Akin |
| Big Four Pageants Titleholders 2001 |
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| Miss Universe Denise Quiñones |
Miss World Agbani Darego |
Miss Earth Catharina Svensson |
Miss International Małgorzata Rożniecka |
