This is the black beauty ; Agbani Darego with the full name as Ibiagbanidoki Asenite Darego . Agbani, a native of Abonnema in Rivers state was born in Lagos on December 22,1982 to a retired Custom official and a rice trading mother.
The six feet tall queen nursed the dream of becoming a model as a teenager but was not supported by her father till later. As life would have it she lost her mother at the age of 12 to breast cancer and her dad at age 30.
Agbani had her primary education at Bereton Nursery and Primary School and secondary education at Federal Government Girls College, Abuloma. She proceeded to the University of Port Harcourt to study Computer Science and Mathematics but terminated her admission due to her busy schedule. She later enrolled at the New York University where she studied Psychology.
Agbani Darego first came into limelight in 1998 when she auditioned at the "face of Africa" pageant organized by Mnet Africa and came as the runner up. In 2001 at age 18, she entered for the Miss Nigeria pageant and was crowned the winner. Being the most beautiful girl in Nigeria, she represented Nigeria at the Miss World Pageant and won the Miss World title making her the first sub-Saharan African to win the miss world crown.
By virtue of this award she was made an honorary member of the council of chiefs in Lagos. She is also a patron of breast awareness program in honour of her late mother. She has worked with different model management such as L'Oreal, Avon, Target, Christian Dior and so on.
Agbani Darego who is a perfect answer to the phrase "Black is Beautiful" has carved a niche for herself; she has had her picture on several international magazines such as Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Trace, Marie Claire etc. In 2010 she started a fashion reality show tagged Stylogenic. In 2011, she was named the brand ambassador for Arik Air and Nature’s Gentle Touch( A hair care product line). In 2013 she established a denim fashion line called AD. The range includes dresses, jeans, sun glasses, belts and bags. In 2017, she got married to Ishaya Danjuma, son of Nigeria's former minister of Defence, the marriage is blessed with a son popularly referred to as baby Ishaya.
Her appearance in different modelling competitions, home and abroad has increased her net worth to about $37 million.
Agbani Darego believes status does not remain forever hence a woman should be good at everything. Indeed the end justifies the means , the choice is yours and the future is female!
Comments