An estern queen emerges

The inaugural Face of Okpanku Pageant has produced a very unique queen who is on the path to delivering major landmark projects for the ancient Eastern kingdom of Okpanku. The pageant which held on the 1^st of January, 2018 had the kingdom in high and merry spirit. Speaking to the organizer and CEO of Emvirtue, Emmanuel Ezima reiterated the purpose of the pageant; ‘for many years, the stereotype of the Eastern woman has been one of subservience, and servitude.

The East is largely structured as a patriarchal society which gives vent to the female stereotype. This pageant therefore is designed as a platform to give women a voice, a tool to trade their uniqueness and become a veritable force to reckon with especially at the grassroot’. He said further that the platform will serve as a hub for grassroot youth talent discovery, honing and export.

The high points of the event were when Ancelia Chioke from Ihuezeoke Okpanku was announced as 2^nd runner up, while Faustina Uzoigwe from Amaogudu Okpanku emerged 1^st runner up. It became fever pitched when the delectable Ugochi Comfort Uzoigwe, a 20 years old 200 level student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University became the winner. The crowed from the seven villages that makes up Okpanku literally trooped to the stage to take pictures with the people’s queen.

During her one year reign as queen, Miss Comfort will be engaged in community development projects that would vary from breast cancer awareness and screening, HIV/AIDS campaign, to sex education, skill acquisition and access to girl child education campaign.

The Face of Okpanku Pageant Is an annual event that will hold every 1^st of January, and with the success of the maiden edition, hopes are high, expectations are rife that the next edition will become even bigger and better.