Nigerian wins Miss Black History pageant

As the 60th anniversary of Jamaica's independence approaches, one Nigerian living in the country is eager to bask in the celebrations of the diamond jubilee.

Alexandria Nwachuku, the recently crowned Miss Black History Month, told THE STAR that she is excited to be in Jamaica at this time.

Jamaica's 60th Independence anniversary year-long celebrations are being observed under the theme 'Reigniting a Nation for Greatness'.

Nwachuku, 21, arrived in Jamaica two years ago, and recently won Miss Black History Month Talent and Pageant show. She was accompanied by her mother Jane to enroll at the Excelsior Community College to pursue a degree in performing arts. Her father, Dr Emmanuel Nwachuku, a lecturer at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, came to the island in 2019.

However, her involvement in the competition, which tested the cultural intelligence of the contestants, was purely coincidental. The Nigerian was introduced to the pageant through one of her lecturers, and admitted that she did not envision herself as a model, swaying down the runway.

With only one month to prepare, Nwachuku fully immersed herself into studying Jamaican history and culture as well as the biography of national heroes and other revered Jamaicans. Of those she studied, she holds cultural icon Louise Bennett-Coverley and the first national hero Marcus Garvey in high esteem.

"I admire Lousie Bennett the most because she resonates a whole lot with what I stand for, and she makes me know that I can achieve so much, and make a whole lot of difference as long as I recognise why I am doing it," Nwachuku said.

"Marcus Mosiah Garvey also really motivates me," she said. "He had a vision and he stood in what he believed in," Nwachuku added.