Professional or Unprofessional

While I was watching the US presidential inauguration yesterday, I was just amazed at how organized the entire ceremony was. Everything down to the second. I started thinking, can this happen in Nigeria? I am completely guilty for being late to events and even my own graduation, and I hope I'm not late to my wedding, but I am working hard at trying to eliminate the "naija time" from my life. Honestly it just makes us unprofessional as a people. It makes others think that we don't take things seriously. Is it in us, or can we change? What do you think?

New Year and Social Media

Every year I make a list of things I want to improve on, but this year I decided to just make a list of values that I wanted to adopt. Another huge change I am going to make is work on getting better with social media. I'm a really private person, and I am not as hip on social media and how its suppose to work, so I just stick to the closest form of social media that I know, bbm. (Lol). I think that most of my fear comes from everyone seeing everything! I think that if people don't abuse it, then that's when its best used. But how much is too much? And is it possible to be private, but still use social media? What do you think?

GWINNET COUNTY COURT DISMISSES $30,000 LAWSUIT AGAINST MNIA BY FORMER QUEEN CLARET IJEOMA ONUKOGU

On July 7, 2012, MNIA received a summons from the Gwinnet County Court from Claret Ijeoma Onukogu. The summons was a $30,000 law suit against MNIA for Verbal Abuse, Defamation of Character, Emotional Distress and Use of Personal Information. MNIA categorically denied all allegations. Fortunately the Gwinnet County Courts ruled in our favor, and on September 13, 2012, the Gwinnet County Court dismissed this case.

For the past 4 months, Claret embarked on a smear campaign accusing MNIA of "'lying about her resignation; accusing MNIA of fraudulently using her SSN; and accusing Dr. Angel Adelaja of impersonating her. Claret has also recruited individuals who have harassed, defamed and spread malicious lies about MNIA, the Miss Nigeria in America 2010 - Angel Oluwayimika Adelaja, Regal Affairs Management, and the Staff at MNIA. We are disheartened that Claret has chosen this course of action against us considering the fact that we have not had any form of communication with Claret since July 2010 when her reign officially ended. We have had to endure silently the unwarranted physical, verbal and cyber attacks by Claret and her associates and as such, we are forced to defend ourselves from such hateful vitriol. This is the first and last time this issue will be addressed by the organization and its associates.

The truth is that Claret did not resign from her position. She was terminated on July 29, 2010 for engaging in an inappropriate conduct with potential sponsor in July 2010 while on official MNIA assignment in Houston, Texas. After long deliberations, MNIA Inc. along with Claret agreed that the best course of action was to relieve her of her duties as Miss Nigeria in America 2009-2010 and forfeit all prizes and priviiledges associated with the title. [see all related links below]. The consensus was to address her departure as a resignation primarily because the organization did not see any need to publicly embarrass Claret since she was already being terminated.


http://www.missnigeriainamerica.org/ClaretvsMNIA1.pdf

http://www.missnigeriainamerica.org/ClaretvsMNIA2.pdf

Regal Affairs Management_CloseOutReport

Claret Onukogu_Houton Incident

Claret Onukogu_HoustonIncident_B

Claret Onukogu_HoustonIncidentC



As of September 13, 2012, MNIA Inc OFFICIALLY STRIPS Claret Ijeoma Onukogu of her title as Miss Nigeria in America 2009. She will be required to send back her sash and her crown. We have also severed all ties with Claret. Any individual or organization that wishes to conduct business with Claret assumes full responsibility and does so at their own risk. While we choose to focus on the wonderful and fulfilling work that we do, we refuse to be bullied by anyone or organization. We will also not tolerate any defamation of our characters and our respective organizations. It is important to note that we take our work and reputations very seriously and as such, we have decided to pursue legal action against Claret Onukogu and her associates.

We thank all our families, friends and well wishers who have stood by us through this stressful ordeal. We are eternally grateful for your endless and tireless support.

MNIA, Inc.
September 19, 2012

Tickets on sale now HERE

And we are back

I went on a 2 year hiatus, partially because I was pregnant and had a kid and because I wanted to clear my head and revamp MNIA and bring it back to the vision that I had in mind.. We have restructured and here is the new website MNIAWEB

Check back in the next couple of days as we bring you more news and updates

Why I love Nigeria - Tolu Noah ~ Miss Anambra 2009/Miss Photogenic 2009

"I come from a land where family and community matter more than the individual.

Where relatives go out of their way to be supportive and welcoming

And the village raises the child, rather than the child ravaging the village.

I come from a land with rich, diverse languages

Where the word “ewa” can mean "beautiful," "beans," or "come"

And a person’s name is not just a name- it carries meaning

I come from a land with the most ambitious and hardworking people on the planet

Where education is of utmost importance

And citizens become doctors, engineers, teachers, and scientists

I come from a land where I can buy anything I need while stuck in traffic:

Cookies

Watches

Drinks

Belts

Pure water

You name it, they’ve got it.

My country may not be perfect

But we are more than the negative headlines

Gracing the newspaper page

We are creative.

We are ambitious.

We are caring.

We are driven.

We are intelligent.

This is why I love Nigeria."

Tolu Noah
Miss Anambra 2009/Miss Photogenic 2009

The Miss Nigeria in America 2009 Pageant

Wow! I can't believe it's almost here. Well Ladies and Gentlemen, we have started planning. We have 3 and 1/2 months to plan this great event. I am ChiChi Dike, for those of you who don't know me and I will be your guide as we plan this event that marks our 5th Year anniversary. We promise to bring you an event you don'twant to miss. Do you have any plans for Labor Day Weekend? I suggest that you make your plans to come to Los Angeles for the 5th edition of the Miss Nigeria in America Beauty Pageant...

We are taking applications for the contestants and you can apply by clicking on this http://www.missnigeriainamerica.org/v2/cont_winners_application.php If you have any questions concerning the application, please call 213.471.2667. The deadline to Apply is JULY 6, 2009

Check out our website at http://www.missnigeriainamerica.org/ and be sure to check this blog on our journey to planning the 5th Anniversary!

Shalom

ChiChi Dike

Executive Producer and Director

The 2009 Miss Nigeria in America Beauty Pageant