What is killing the Nigeria Pageant Industry by Dominic Barcity
The Pageant Industry in Nigeria has Become an industry to reckon
with in as much as it is an industry that does good, it also has its
evil sides, let’s not dwell on any of these but look at this vibrant
industry as it concerns Nigeria in contrast with the world. As usual
most Nigerians want to do every business they find their peers doing
especially when they think it is succeeding and this ideology has sadly
affected the pageant industry. Pageant competitions are supposed to
create employment, enhance the fashion world, bring to live the
mannequins that strut the stage and idolize young beauties by giving
them platforms to showcase their talents, but in Nigeria it has become a
beehive of infidels, non-professionals and mediocrity has become the
order of the day! People now associate pageantry with a lot of ills such
as prostitution, homosexuality etc.
As the
cliché goes, beauty contests are here to stay. They are springing up
like mushrooms such that almost every local government now has a crowned
beauty queen, like Miss Orlu, Miss Ikorodu, Miss Bwari, Miss Isolo,
etc. In addition, we now have crowned beauty queens for specific events
and sectors, such as Miss Calabar Festival, Miss Tourism, Miss Campus,
etc. No event, festival or carnival seems to be complete without a
beauty queen being selected for it. Expectedly, pageant organizers are
multiplying in leaps and bounds.
Here are few problems that are killing the Industry here in Nigeria…
1
Lack of Functioning regulatory Body: The Beauty Pageant Industry Ills
can be attributed to the fact of lack of no functioning regulatory body
regulating the beauty pageant industry in Nigeria and this remains the
major factor why beauty pageant and beauty queen keep messing the
industry up with several controversy, if the regulatory body is
functioning well then the rest problems can be solved.
2
Transparency: This is the major reason why young girls don’t want to
contest for any beauty contest anymore, Pageant Organisers lie about and
always fail to provide the promised star prize and most of them also
cheat in selecting winners.
3 Unprofessional
Management by the organizers also remains one major problem killing the
industry, most of these organisers don’t understand the pageant business
so well, they actually feel it’s more about them staging a contest to
get girls for pimping which is now known as the modern day prostitution.
4
Lack of Sponsorship: Most Pageantry with good content fade away easily
due to lack of sponsorship, most corporate organisation don’t consider
sponsoring beauty contest and this remains one of the major reason why
beauty pageant industry in Nigeria is dying.
5
Beauty Queens forget the essence and core reasons why they are being
crowned, they feel it’s just a platform to take dazzling photos for
Instagram or go partying in all the biggest lounges & nightclubs in
the city.