On Saturday, Chidimma Adetshina was crowned Miss Universe Nigeria. Less than a month before the pageant, she was originally a contestant in the Miss South Africa pageant. Adetshina, a 23-year-old law student, was born in Soweto, South Africa, and spent her childhood in Cape Town. Her father is from Nigeria, and her mother has South African and Mozambican heritage.
As Adetshina progressed in the Miss South Africa pageant, social media users questioned her eligibility, leading to xenophobic messages on platforms like X and Instagram. The Miss South Africa organization requested the South African Home Affairs Department to verify Adetshina's citizenship due to concerns about her mother's alleged fraud and identity theft to obtain citizenship for her daughter in 2001.
