MBGN organisers criticised her unconventional demeanor which they believed failed to uphold their image. She was ridiculed by showbiz reporters after it emerged that she had left her undergraduate course prior to graduation. Cartoonists had a field day lampooning her with exaggerated caricatures. Gossip magazines regarded her as tabloid fodder. In recent years she has been a running gag on my other blog The Naija Brit - hopefully she has taken the latter in good humour. Yet despite the severe judgement, outside the headlines, and beyond the tattoos, Omasan Buwa has since proved her critics wrong by making a name for herself as a model, actress, television presenter, lawyer, columnist, and businesswoman. She may have briefly faded into obscurity, but like a true survivor Buwa is now proof that he who laughs last laughs longest.
London-born Buwa was no stranger to strutting for an audience when she entered the world of pageantry as she had already modelled for veteran designer Maufechi. In 1987 she competed in Miss Nigeria where she lost to Stella Okoye. Undeterred, she entered the second edition of Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, and despite the audience's disapproval who favoured vertically-challenged Nkiru 'Niki' Onuaguluchi she was crowned winner. She placed a respectable fifth at the Nigerian version of Miss Intercontinental, but during Miss Universe the following year, pageant critics viewed her as too fat in her unflattering Catalina swimsuit and described her evening gown as dull. Buwa's Miss Universe experience was also marred by host country Taiwan's cuisine which consisted mainly of octopus, lizard, and frog and nearly all the contestants reportedly took ill.
After Miss World and the handover of her crown, Buwa dabbled in more modelling and landed a supporting role with soap opera Memories, playing Ethel Ekpe's two-faced friend embarking on an affair with her fiance Longley Evru. It was during this time the authorities at the University of Maiduguri who did not approve of her role as a pageant queen expelled her indefinitely, a decision not lost on the press. At the 1990 PMAN Music Awards, Buwa allegedly argued with a Prime People reporter who had described her as a drop-out. Despite this setback, she re-established herself as a restaurateur and opened her own modelling agency. Television presenting was another feather added to her cap with the Saturday breakfast show Morning Ride. Stories centred around her were constantly splashed on Prime People and Vintage People pages, with cartoonists poking fun at her physique bearing captions which included "Big Boob Buwa". The tomboy tag intensified when she began to sport a Grace Jones-esque hair cut which some believed gave her a masculine appearance.
Through the late 90's to the middle of the millennium, Buwa was based in America and the United Kingdom, working as a make-up artist, presenter, model, and columnist for soft-sell Whispas. Perhaps her biggest achievement - apart from her three children - was obtaining a degree in Law from the North London University in 2002. She is now an executive assistant to the Delta State governor, specialising in social care for the disabled, and has used her knowledge and experience to establish RISE, a programme focusing on rehabilitation and development for the disabled.
Respect is due. Ms. Buwa, the 'Tomboy Queen', we salute you!
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