The Miss Africa Russia organization recently hosted the 2021 edition where Chilongoshi Enah was crowned as the winner of Miss Africa Russia 2021. At the end of the event, Cheima Faycal and Parfait Neissa were adjudged as the first and second runner ups to the title, respectively.

The pageant is said to be the greatest event ever to be organized by Africans in the Russian Federation to promote the African culture, image, values and also to empower its women and confer merited awards to distinguished Africans doing excellently well in the spheres of academics, humanitarian, businesses, diplomacy, entertainment, talents and skills etc.

Udeh Chiamaka Victoria, an Igbo woman who represented Nigeria at the pageant, became the talk of the town as she stepped out on the runway with a blood-strained Nigerian flag. Victoria had gotten everyone stunned with the audience beholding such emotional moments and scenarios that she delved them into.

As she walked the ramp with the stained flag, she thought only of one thing – the young people who lost their lives during the protests. The Nigerian student and model was intent on using the Miss Africa Russia platform to make a statement about the anti-police brutality demonstrations that rocked her country last October, and which culminated in security forces firing on unarmed protesters at the Lekki toll gate.

Talking about her actions in a recent interview, she said, “I felt like 'right now I don't care about what the judges think about what I'm doing.' What mattered to me was u.sing the platform that Miss Africa Russia had given me to pass a message.”

“I went into the competition to win ... I wanted to win. But getting to Moscow ... winning didn't matter to me anymore. I just wanted to portray and create awareness on what happened on the 20th of October 2020, and the recent insecurity situation in Nigeria," she added.

Even though Udeh did not win the competition, but she was rated top in the People's Choice category by the organizers. She mentioned that her decision to parade the stained flag was because one of the competition's categories required contestants to walk down the runway in a dress representing Nigerian culture.

She also added that her statement was not an attempt to tarnish the country's image. “I did that for a good cause. We need to be safe in our country and not losing lives every day. It was just a call to the Nigerian government to address the country's security issues," she said.

Aftr her stint went viral from June 13th event, Udeh has been receiving all kinds of reactions and comments. Some country folks described her performance as unpatriotic, while others called her brave. Addressing these opinions, Udeh said, “Those are people's opinions, and it doesn't matter to me. If I'm given that platform again, I would do it over and over again.”