The reigning Mr Nigeria, Emmanuel Ikubese, on Sunday emerged 1st runner-up and Most Stylish Contestant, at the Mr World contest which held at the Riviera International Conference Centre, Torbay, England.
Emmanuel Ikubese
Ikubese, 25, came second behind Denmark’s Nicklas Pedersen, while Mexico’s Jose Pablo Minor took the third position in the event monitored in Lagos by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
He expressed his joy on his Instagram page saying: “I just want to thank God for giving me this great opportunity to represent my country.
“I came second in the Mr World 2014 contest and was also the “Most Stylish Contestant’’. Thanks for all your support. God bless,’’ he wrote.
Representatives from 46 countries took part in the contest which involved challenges in Talent, Sport, Multi-Media, Fashion and Style and the Extreme Challenge.
The “Mr World’ 2014” contest was the eight edition of the pageantry and had three new countries namely Moldova, Switzerland and Ghana.
Ikubese earned the rights to represent Nigeria at the contest when he won the `Mr Nigeria 2014’ contest in Lagos on April 26 after defeating 19 other contestants at the annual event.
The contest was organised by the Silverbird Group.
He added that he would use his position as Mr Nigeria to be a good role model and to inspire millions of youths and encourage them to chase their dreams.
“I am currently part of a campaign against HIV/AIDS and I will also do my own projects.
“One of them is the fight against domestic violence because I have come across lots of such violence in the news in recent times.
“The case of the man who stabbed his wife 72 times got to me and I decided to take it up.
“We are Africans and we are honourable men and beating our women is never a sign of our strength,
“I want to get us talking about God-given innate African qualities again and encourage our men to be real men,’’ he said then.
NAN reports that Ikubese, who is also an actor, had played notable roles in a number of movies, including the award-inning HIV/AIDS series, “Shuga”, sponsored by the Urber-music channel, MTV Base.
He studied International Relations at the United States International University, Nairobi, Kenya, and hails from Kwale in Delta State.