Miss Obulata Annderah Chiderah, 300 level Law student at Rivers State University is The National Queen Nigeria. She had a media conversation recently where she spoke on her ambition, challenges, pet project, turn off, turn on, and strategy to handle male admirers. Chiderah, who stands out in any crowd with her beauty and a pleasant personality, also revealed the one thing she would want to pass across to President Bola Tiñúbu if they met.
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Let’s start with when you developed your passion for beauty pageants.
I think the passion came to me during my teenage years when I started to get exposed to social media. I discovered the pageant world and I remember watching Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria on TV with my family. At that point I knew that I wanted to be a part of the pageant world and leave my mark.
What is your pet project and what do you intend to achieve with it?
My pet project is a lasting one. It birthed my foundation called WE ALL MATTER FOUNDATION (WeMa) and I aim to spread the message of equality and inclusivity to the world. I believe that all classes of persons are important. From men, women, children, boys, girls, orphans, and even the disabled.
I want the world to know that everyone needs to feel included, welcomed, and like they belong. Everyone should be given a chance to speak and be heard.
How much of encouragement did you receive from your parents because most parents discourage their children?
My Family was very supportive of me. It took a while for them to accept my decision to go into the pageant world but once everyone was okay with it, the support was very massive. I think their support alongside the support of my friends actually brought me this far. My family, most importantly, also supported me with prayer.
What is the experience like as a beauty queen?
It’s a beautiful experience I won’t lie. I think it changed how I think and act to a large extent. It makes you see things differently and it boosts your confidence totally. It changes your social network like you get to meet different people at events and learn new things during your reign. It’s just a whole brand new experience.
How do you handle male admirers thronging around you?
No pressure really. Not all male admirers groom weird thoughts in their minds. Most of them are genuine admirers who just love the projects I do and would love to be a part of it. I believe if I ever encounter one with a weird thought in mind I can totally handle myself around it. You just need to be polite and respectful in handling them.
What challenges and burden do you encounter as a Queen?
The issue of being positive is a burden to me. What I mean is being encouraged each passing day and radiating positive energy. It’s like I’ve become more conscious of myself each day and it makes me overthink if I’m giving my all or not. It makes it hard to remain positive but I’ve learnt one thing and it’s that the impact we make on the society whether big or small is important and has also affected the lives of people. So lately I’m learning to not stress and overthink and just focus on the goals at hand. I just try to be myself, leaving the rest to God.
What is your future plan after your reign?
After my reign I plan to focus on my studies and graduate from the university. I’ll also keep carrying out projects because my advocacy is something I wish to create awareness on. Maybe sometime later I may contest in another pageant competition, but for now I’ll focus on graduating from the university.
Who is your role model?
My role model is my mum. I was raised in a single parent household by my mum. We are four kids and she single handedly raised us all. I’ve watched her face difficulties with her head held high and not letting us know when she was having a hard time. She worked tirelessly day and night to give us a good life and to play both the role of a father and a mother. She makes me believe that being a mother goes far beyond birthing children, it is an emotion and a profession that deserves the highest paid salary.
What turns you off?
Generally Lies. I hate being lied to it makes it hard to be around a person or people who don’t value the truth. Also people without ambitions or goals. I think everyone at some point in life needs to have their life planned out even though we know it may not go as planned but just have a goal or something you’re passionate about and work towards achieving it.
What turns you on?
Good food. Everyone gets happy when they eat good food. I can be having a bad day but once I eat good food it makes me feel a whole lot better. So yeah, Good food.
What is your best food?
I don’t have a favorite food cause there are so many foods I love to eat but hey.. I love foods like Noodles, Jollof rice and a well prepared Afang soup and garri. I also love taking icecream, suya and bole occasionally.
How do you relax or wine down?
I watch movies or listen to music. Watching movies is one of my hobbies and watching my favorite series or movie helps me relax. Listening to songs from a playlist of my favorite artists like Justin Bieber, Davido, OGC, Billie eillish, Seventeen, etc helps me unwind.
What advice will you give to those aspiring for beauty competition?
The pageant journey is one that’s filled with lots of struggles as well as happiness and lifelong fulfillment. Don’t just participate because you got a free form or maybe because of the prize money. The pageant platform gives you a chance to be in control and make a change around you wherever you are. You become a public figure and people have their eyes on you.
You should be well spoken, well behaved and have a rational outlook to social issues. Be confident, have a positive aura and an inspiring personality. Know when to talk and when not to, be compassionate and nice. Above all put God first and in the center of all you do, cause life without him is pointless.
What is your regret so far?
That would be letting what people say affect me. I’ve always seen life practically and as such I try to embrace the fact that everything I do in life can be subject to criticism. Trying to please others and changing your views on matters just to feel accepted should not matter instead Work on building your own identity, your opinions and your personality.
If you have an opportunity to meet with President Bola Tiñúbu now, what will be your one request from him?
If I meet with the president I would request that sanitary pads should be free and made available to females in Nigeria. I had a chance to carry out a project in November last year, it was tagged “KICK FOR MENSTRUAL EQUITY”. There are so many women in Nigeria who have no access to menstrual products and lack of these products make these women resort to unhygienic methods like using rags and leaves. These methods leads to sickness which can cause death or infertility in the near future. This problem concerns Nigeria as women are the pivot on which the society run. We alongside the men influence the birth rate of the country which concerns our population. It is our population which led to our name the GIANT OF AFRICA. The government should therefore look into this issue and develop a way to solve this issue.