She was 19 going on 20 years old when she emerged first runner up at the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria pageant in 2003. As part of her prize, she went on to contest at the Miss ECOWAS pageant and won. Realising early on that being a queen wasn’t an end but a means to and end, she decided education was key. A product of Queen of the Rosary College, Onitsha and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Anambra State, where she completed her degree programme graduating Psychology graduating in 2004.
When it came to education and how much she wanted to improve on herself, there was no stopping her. The native of Anambra State followed up with a Masters in Peace Studies based on International and Humanitarian Law from the University of Bradford in the UK. She capped her studies with a Ph.D. from the University of Hull.
Dr. May Nkiru Ikeora, fondly called ‘Pencil’ by friends for her painting skills, is a gender and human trafficking expert. She has been working in the UK, consulting for international organisations and conducting research on her area of specialty.
She was recently in Nigeria to inspire contestants at the just concluded Miss Nigeria pageant. In this encounter, she shares her inspiring story that fired the contestants to bring their A-game unto the stage.
It’s been quite some time since your reign as Miss ECOWAS. How has it been?
It’s been great. I thank God for where I am today. As you know, I was queen for two years. The first year, I focused on my studies and some activities but the second year was when I decided to do a bit more things. I think my reign helped to set the foundation for the rest of my life. I knew there were other things waiting for me. I pursued those things.
Today, the work that I do, the sort of person that I am, has continued to improve, going from strength to strength and gaining valuable skills that feed me. It’s been great.
How did you pick up the thread of your life? What were the things that you went on to do?
Well, because of the foundation I set up and the work that I did with ECOWAS and other civil society organisations; and, the skills that I gained travelling to war-torn countries, after my reign, I went on to gain my Masters at the University of Brackford. The department was very keen to get those who have practical skills in what they’ve learnt. They were very specific in the admission letter I got. It just said we are admitting you because we feel that your experience can add some benefit to discussions in class.
That marked the beginning of my pursuit of my career in Law. Before I got the admission, there was a kind of competition for everyone seeking admission to become a volunteer mediator. I was one of the two students who won that competition. So, I had a chance with the Bradford Council, where I was studying. It was like something added to what I had on my CV. That also led me to getting a job before I finished, working on women’s rights issues in London.
I was planning to come back to Nigeria after my Masters but you can see how all these things were unfolding. After that, I got to work with another organisation on the Niger Delta conflicts, which was what I worked on for my Masters. Before I finished this, I got another job to work with a child rights organisation. They look into child protection – and with that job, I got really exposed to the African community in the UK.
I worked with a lot of families; children who are abused as well as trafficking issues. Funny enough, a lot of my cases were Nigerian cases and that got me thinking: a lot of Nigerians come into the UK and they have all these family issues.
I worked with over 2,000 families and I was awarded at the House of Lords for my work with the communities. Also, the Women’s Peace Federation gave me an award for my contribution as a young person doing a lot of work in the community.
During that year, I got a scholarship to do a Ph.D. based on the work I was doing. One of the cases I looked at was trafficking. I found out that nobody was looking at how a lot of Nigerians are trafficked into the UK. People tend to look at Italy.
There are other destinations apart from Italy. So, I applied for the scholarship and got it. I was really surprised. It was by the University of Hull Law School and the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation. That was where slavery ended but they were looking at contemporary slavery and that was why I got the admission.
This whole journey started with your work with ECOWAS. How did that happen?
I knew what I wanted to do from the beginning. Because I was Miss ECOWAS, it made sense to have some dealings with ECOWAS but that connection was not there. As you know, because we are very ceremonious and pageantry is very glamorous, they endorsed the pageant but nothing more.
They welcomed me and had a party for me – what they usually do for (beauty) queens. But I wanted something beyond that. They asked me what I wanted and I wrote a proposal to them that I wanted to work with them and gain experience as a queen. I then started writing to them about Miss ECOWAS being able to speak at the Peace Summit. I kept writing to them and, one day, I got a call from ECOWAS telling me that finally, they’ve allowed Miss ECOWAS to speak at the Peace Summit but I was not there to see what I pioneered.
I got to work with them, though, in one of the departments, talking to young people about the role of ECOWAS in West Africa, talking to them about their careers and peace-related issues. I went to Guinea Bissau. I went to Togo, Senegal, Liberia just after the war. I went to Cote d’Ivoire a lot. I did go to a lot of countries, all funded by them.
After my Ph.D., I did a bit of teaching in the University. I still work as a consultant for some international organisations. Basically, I am a gender and human trafficking expert. I am a senior research associate for two consulting firms in the UK. These are things that keep me going.
I recently started a skin care line to exercise the entrepreneurial side of me. It’s very important that you know what you are putting on your skin because a lot of people are making money out of people’s ignorance. So, what I am doing differently is, basically, looking at honest skin care; telling you everything that is in there.
Next month, in Lagos, I will be running a master class. I do that a lot in the UK. My product is called ‘Laviana’. It means ‘strong, beautiful woman’.
What you have achieved as a beauty queen is uncommon. How would you advice young queens on life after reign?
I would say: never forget your roots. We all come from different backgrounds when we come to contest; some from wealthy families and some not from wealthy families. The funny thing is that when we become beauty queens, we actually align ourselves as the same. We think we are the same, we think our journey has to be the same. But it doesn’t have to be.
What I kept reminding myself was why I went into the pageant. I went into the pageant because I wanted to be able to pay my school fees which had just been increased at that time. Now, to escape school because I won does not make sense to me. It actually defeats the whole purpose.
As runner up, I got about N250,000 and, then, as Miss ECOWAS, I got about C2.5million. That more than met my needs at the time. That week of the pageant, I got gifts worth a million naira in cash. I realised that the pageant is not an end in itself but a means to an end. Those with dreams must not let them die because they won.
This was the reason I was invited to Miss Nigeria pageant this year and why I was part of the judges for MBGN last year. Silverbird invited me last year to be part of the judges. They’ve been very proud of me, that I went ahead to do other things. Miss Nigeria brought me in to mentor the girls exactly for the same reason.
What was the response like from the girls?
It was amazing. I have never met a group of girls so brilliant and with such passion. I have a mind set about this but these girls were different. They stayed awake to study. You would think they were preparing for an exam. If you had come back stage, they studied and asked questions never asked at a beauty pageant. I watched them interviewing one another, preparing for the event.
Is this a new phase in pageantry?
Definitely! That angle with doing a business plan has never been done. It’s a dimension that should be sustained. It will allow families restore confidence in pageantry again. I can’t imagine a parent saying ‘no’ to their children going to gain certain skills. If you look at the past queens, they seem quite grounded.
I think that was why I was brought here; to help them with the way they think. That is important to them so that nobody hides behind the glamour of a beautiful dress.
If the pageant is not an end like you said, from your interactions with the girls, what do they have going for them now that can sustain them?
A lot of the girls have graduated and some of them are in their final year in the university. So, they are quite mature. I think it was done that way deliberately because I don’t think an 18-year old girl is mature enough to face what comes with the crown in a place like Nigeria. With what the BOI is doing for them, there is great hope.
What challenges do beauty queens face?
Everybody has challenges but to be a beauty.
enough to face what comes with the crown in a place like Nigeria. With what the BOI is doing for them, there is great hope.
What challenges do beauty queens face?
Everybody has his or her challenge but to be a beauty queen, especially in Nigeria, is just not easy. That is why a girl has to be a bit mature. There are situations where some people just wait for you to win and prey on you.
I will just say that when you win, you are going to have a lot of fake friends and you are going to have all these fake men who just want to prey on you. There are so many things that go with it, which is why you should be mature to go into a beauty pageant.
There are situations that could be quite overwhelming when you meet people that you are probably in awe of start acting like everyone else. Women also find themselves in this situation, not to talk of beauty queens.
You see people so wealthy wanting you. I worry about this generation. People now are too boastful and proud so, if they find themselves with these kinds of men, they will fall. There is no way they will be able to resist the temptation.
Having been on the stage as a queen and now doing very serious academic work, do you still take image very seriously?
The way I look is very important to me. In fact, while I was doing my Ph.D., a lot of people thought I was not serious because I really dressed well. But that never compromised my ability to think intellectually.
Simplicity is very important to me. I am not a trendy person per se. I like classic things. I like the ‘50s fashion. My favourite are dresses. Now, I am loving midi-dresses.
How has living outside influenced the way you dress?
A lot. You’ve seen me today, you’ve seen the way I dressed. The person wearing a dress is more important than the dress she is wearing. A lot of people dress to prove a point. I have no point to prove.
Simplicity is something that is achievable outside this country. People like to be practical. They dress up as well but there is a place and time for it. One of the things I really learnt living outside the country is the ability to be more sensitive to people, knowing when I offend people.
Here, we don’t care about people. The way we drive shows that. We should do things appropriately. We don’t do that here.
What won’t you do in the name of fashion?
I won’t dress indecently for attention. When you say indecently dressed 20 years ago is totally different.
What would you like to say for the future?
I look forward to a very adventurous next few years, to venture into business, coming back to Nigeria and, actually, claiming my place in the country.
Where is your favourite travel destination?
I like to go to different places. I don’t like to repeat a destination. There are some places that I like to go to all the time. I like Canada a lot, even though it is so cold. There are several places that I’d like to try out. I have been to a lot of places; some places are fun and some are totally disappointing. But I’d like to go back to Cape Verde. I love the place.
Now that you’ve seen this what do you look forward to?
Well, they need to go back to the drawing board. But there hasn’t been stability with the pageant and there is that quest for stability. That was why they brought in a lot of people to offer service, to see how stability can be achieved.
