The crowning of a Miss Telecom Nigeria in July will further boost the contributions of the Telecom and tourism industries to national development.
This is also because the sector has become an inevitable key to the growth of the tourism sector in the country.
The would-be Miss Telecom Nigeria would be the ambassador to further assist boost the sectors.
Festus Ogana, the chief organiser of the beauty pageant disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Ogana spoke ahead of the maiden edition of the forthcoming Miss Telecom Nigeria beauty pageant scheduled for July 27.
He said that the contest would be for young girls whose ages range from 18 years to 30 years and from across the country.
He said the newly introduced beauty pageant show would celebrate the achievements of the telecom industry.
He added that it would lay emphasis on how the sector had promoted the diverse cultures of Nigerians.
The organiser said that the image of the nation needed to be promoted through the tourism and telecom platforms.
“It is to celebrate the nation’s telecom industry and also promote the culture, entertainment, arts and craft and visual arts.
“It is a platform that we want to use to fully project our African heritage and celebrate its diversity through a sector that is widely relevant to all other sectors.
“The telecom industry has helped in many diverse ways to boost Nigerian cultural heritage and the world at large,’’ he said.
Ogana noted that with the introduction of the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), the telecommunications industry had received a boost.
“From then till date, everything we do in Nigeria revolves around the telecom industry, irrespective of age and social status.
“Everyone goes about with mobile phones and connect to global debates.
“Telecommunication sector has positively changed our ways of living, our thinking, how we relate and transact business in the past 18 years.
“This was pronounced with the global acceptance of the social media which is powered by the IT/Telecom industry,’’ he said.
A stakeholder and the Chief Executive Officer of DAK Marketing Services Limited, Mr Dede Kalu, expressed his delight in the debut of Miss Telecom Nigeria concept.
He said that the telecom industry did not have a face to project its achievements for a long time despite being a leading sector in Nigeria.
“The Nigerian telecom industry has contributed immensely to the growth of Nigeria and it is very important to appreciate this through an ambassador that will be emerge through a beauty pageant.
“The industry has supported the nation’s culture of hard work and self-reliance as seen in the growth of many businesses that are its offshoot.
“The industry has significantly contributed over 5.5 percent to the Nigeria GDP and has empowered the economy of the country.
“Therefore, Miss Telecom will be presented as a pageant that celebrates our rich cultural beliefs and tradition through the Nigerian telecom industry to the rest of the world,” he said.
He also said that the overall winner would represent the face of the Nigerian telecom industry internationally.
Also, Tony Ojini, the National Coordinator of the proposed beauty pageant, said that there would be auditioning in: Calabar, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Benin City, Abuja and Lagos.
He said that interested contestants would be expected to obtain their forms from any of the locations stated above with N5,000.
He said that the star prize would be a brand new car and a wardrobe allowance for one year.
He added that other categories of winners would also go home with various consolation prizes.
NAN reports that earlier, the organisers had unveiled the contest with a catwalk by the models.
