Miss Ebony Ambassador UK, Rebecca Afolabi was recently in Nigeria on a charity mission. While in the country, she visited lots of interesting places including schools, maternity wards and orphanages, most especially, in her hometown, Ilesha, Osun State. All these she did in her capacity as the Miss Ebony Ambassador UK, Daily Sun reports.
In this interview, Afolabi spoke on life as a beauty queen and how her mother inspired her act of giving and caring for children. Please enjoy it.
Tell us briefly about yourself.
My name is Rebecca Afolabi and I am currently the Miss Ebony Ambassador UK. I am 23-years-old and a Psychology graduate from City University of London.
In secondary school, I was a prefect who led by example with various duties. I also took part in various school activities including organising the playlist for our graduation. I was equally in charge of the invitation/flyer design for the school.
During my years at university, I was part of the Psychology Society, ACS and represented the institution at competitions. I remember in my last year at the university, our group came first and won the Grand National Championship. Currently, I am a Programmatic Senior Executive at PHD Media, working for the Volkswagen Group. I’m someone that loves music, movies and reading books. Early this year, I contested and won the Miss Ebony Ambassador UK.
Aside Ebony Group, how do you intend to help the less privileged and also advice the youth on vocational skills?
My sister and I have been saving money to go back to Ilesha, to start an orphanage and also donate to charity. I was in Ilesha recently and we visited some orphanages on behalf of Ebony, and I saw the conditions there. Then, I thought to myself, by putting money together, my sister and I could do something greater in Ilesa.
For the youths, I would advise them to start off with different types of skills, the ones that they enjoy the most. Find people that can assist you, that can provide makeup brushes or cake items for example. Some of these could be gotten for free.
What are you passionate about?
I am passionate about a lot of things and one of them is competition. I’m not talking about being competitive in a negative way. I really like going for competitions. I think that motivates me to keep on pushing.
Where did you grow up?
I was born in New Jersey, America. But I lived in London until I was eight years. I came to live in Ibadan for four years; then went back to London and stay there till now. I left Ibadan because it was quite difficult. I got bullied because of my accent and I had to change schools. But I really enjoyed my primary and secondary schools days in Nigeria. When I went back to London, it was challenging to transition again, because back then, people used to make fun of those from Nigeria and other African countries. But that has changed a lot now.
Are you saying that there is no racism again?
No, I am not saying that there is no racism. There is still racism but I have lots of friends that are not Nigerians and they like Nigerian Afrobeats; they know all the artistes in Nigeria. They even use some of our slangs in their conversations. Things have definitely changed. I am not saying there is no racism, but there is a more positive impact right now.
Tell us more about your vocational skills and life as a psychologist?
I learnt makeup from YouTube with my sister. But for psychology, it was something my mum wanted me to do. I had initially wanted to do fashion but you know African parents, they don’t really like that. Psychology is a very broad subject and you can actually do anything with it. So, it was a good step for me to take. When I started psychology and got to my third year, I realised I wanted to change to business organisational marketing. I later changed from counseling psychology to organisational psychology.
As for makeup, I often do my mum and her friends’ makeup. I had to learn how to do it properly. And with competitions like Miss Ebony, you have to know how to look good and presentable all the time. That’s how I kept improving in my makeup skills.
For how long will you be Miss Ebony?
I will be Miss Ebony till July 27 when the new queen would be crowned.
What legacy are you leaving behind?
It’s everything we have been doing in the past weeks; going to orphanages, maternity wards, schools etc. I want the next queen to see all that we have done so far and be motivated to have the passion to do it as well, even in her own country if it happens that she’s not a Nigerian.
Who was your influence growing up?
It’s my mum, definitely. She grew up as a royalty because her dad was a king in Ilesha. So, she used to get money from her dad to give to the less privileged. And she continues to do that till date. She doesn’t like seeing children struggling. And I saw the need to continue on that path. Miss Ebony is a great opportunity for me to do that.
With your vast experience in digital marketing, would you like to come back to Nigeria if you are given an opportunity to serve?
I am not into politics. I prefer to stay neutral. If I am to come back (to Nigeria), I will prefer to do more charity work than the regular 9-5 job. Nigeria is a good country; we just need help to keep moving.
