Mrs Obiageli Obiadi, the mother of the immediate past Miss Nigeria, Chioma Obiadi, has advised parents to allow their children and wards pursue academic careers of their choices instead of dictating to them.
Mrs Obiadi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that young girls should be allowed to choose what they wanted to be in life and be given the freedom to go after their passion for them to happy.
“Anything children want to do in life, the parents should support them rather than for parents to dictate what suits them to their children which may eventually not be to the tastes of the children, the world is turning around,” she said.
Obiadi described the present generation of children as a complete contrast to when she and her peers were growing up, adding that what obtained then would not be applicable to the current time.
” Our own time was quite different from the current generation, things are changing, so we too must move along to meet the evolving world,” she said.
Speaking on her feelings as the mother of a former beauty queen, Mrs Obiadi said she felt elated and delighted to be the mother of a former most beautiful girl in Nigeria.
“I feel great being the mother of a former beauty queen, infact, l am proud of her anytime and anywhere, because I am regarded as a lucky woman.
” Despite that she had handed over the crown to the incumbent, her name as a former Miss Nigeria will be in history because once a beauty queen, always a beauty queen,” she said.
She said that her daughter, right from birth, had been exhibiting the traits of being a beauty queen from the way she used to dress and behave.
“Chioma liked fashion and she had been showing this quality right from her birth, she was fond of wearing high heel shoes and fashionable cloths.
“My friends then used to call her ‘Queen Elizabeth ” because of her elegant movements and carriage.
“So I was not surprised when my daughter eventually emerged the 40t beauty queen in a competition that started from her school to the state and finally she won the covered position of MissNigeria,” she said.
Obiadi said that one of the strongest points to the success of Chioma was the full support from herself and her husband in the course of her struggles.
“When we discovered that Chioma was destined to go toward the pageant direction, which we saw from her cradle, we gave her our uttermost support and encouragement.
” The support from parents go a long way in boosting the destinies of young boys and girls which I am encouraging parents to follow suit,”
She also advised young girls to go after their passion as no one could detect where their destinies would eventually shine.
NAN reports that Chioma, a Geography student of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, handed the Miss Nigeria crown to the 41st Miss Nigeria, Mildred Ehiguese recently.
Ehiguese,24, is a graduate of Psychology from the Redeemers’ University in Ede, Osun. ( NAN)