Nigeria
Miss World finalists to boycott Nigerian contest

afrol News, 7 November - A young and blonde Danish girl is shattering Nigeria's dreams of organising a world event of unprecedented beauty, estimated to produce millions of US$ of tourism revenues. Masja Juel, or Miss Denmark, is leading a boycott campaign in response to a Nigerian death-by-stoning sentence of a woman for having a child outside marriage.

Miss Juel will not participate in the Miss World finals in Nigeria, she has announced, protesting the Shari'a death sentence of Amina Lawal. Her campaign has already led to cancellations from the beauty queens of Austria, Belgium, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, France, Kenya, Poland and Togo. More are expected to follow Miss Juel's example.

Facing an increased embarrassment, the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo has started a diplomatic campaign to minimise the consequences of the boycott. President Obasanjo always has articulated the federal government's protest against Shari'a death sentences that are practiced in several Northern Nigerian states.

Now, in a direct answer to Miss Juel's campaign, Nigeria's Minister of Interior guarantees that Ms Lawal will not be stoned to death. Miss World director Julia Morley even insists she has received a personal assurance from President Obasanjo that Ms Lawal's death sentence will "never be carried out."

Several men have however already been stoned to death for sex-related crimes in Northern Nigeria. After an August appeal to the highest court of the northern state of Katsina had failed, the Katsina woman is scheduled to be stoned in January next year. Only an appeal to a federal court can now save her, as the Nigerian federal constitution safeguards basic human rights. President Obasanjo, who on several occasions has spoken out in support of Ms Lawal, refers to these federal rights that so far have not been tested in court.

According to Miss Juel and other candidates in support of a boycott, however, this is not enough. There were still no guarantees Ms Lawal would not be stoned, or that other Nigerian women could escape this fate at a later stage. Several European women politicians support the Danish beauty and urge finalists from their own country to join the boycott.

Euro-parliamentarian Glenys Kinnock, for example, has sent several messages to Miss Wales to abandon her participation in the Abuja event. "President Obasanjo Olusegun should be urged to act before the event," she was quoted by 'The Western Mail'. Michelle Bush, or Miss Wales, however had doubts. Information that Ms Lawal supported the Miss World event and planned action by the misses in Lagos at the moment made her opt for the pageant.

Indeed, on the official Miss World web site, there is posted a message from Ms Lawal, telling the contestants to "come". According to the statement, which has been disputed, the organisers had told her "that some participants, out of solidarity, have decided to boycott the event and others have decided to participate so as to help her plight. We ask her what she thinks is best."

- Let them come; Ms Lawal was to have stated "after thinking about it a while." She was reported to have added that "I know things will work out because people are coming from all over the world."

Further, each of the contestants, with the backing of Miss World organisers, are planned to be making some form of protest against Ms Lawal's sentence when they arrive in Nigeria for the show, Welsh Miss Bush informs. In this way, the organisers hope to avoid a spreading boycott of the event.

The pageant will be broadcasted to millions of TV viewers worldwide and the positive focus it normally creates is known to be a major opportunity for the host nation to boom its tourist arrivals. Nigeria was expecting a major focus not only of the beauty of the contestants but also on the beauty of the country. Miss Juel's campaign has however assured a greater focus on the human rights situation in Northern Nigeria.

Thus, the event seems to produce more trouble than pleasure for the Nigerian organisers. President Obasanjo already had to order a postponement of the pageant to 7 December to avoid conflict with the Muslim north - originally, it was to take place in the middle of the Holy month of Ramadan.

Sources: Based on Denmark Miss World and afrol archives

 

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