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

Why I choose to DISCOVER

In the middle of a conversation about MNIA on Friday, I was asked, “why do you do this, why is this important to you?” I answered his question, but that question has stayed with me since then. I feel like I did not adequately express my WHY.

For those of you that are not familiar with the school system in Nigeria as in many other African countries, you pay for EVERYTHING. From pre-school till the very end of your schooling, essentially, education is a luxury that only the privileged few can afford. When we travel down into the villages and rural parts of Nigeria, in addition to affordability, we are now faced with the issues of accessibility and quality.

It becomes easier to detach ourselves from the reality of situations that our friends and families face back some the longer we remain in the Diaspora and makes lives for ourselves here. We feel like we are unaffected by what the average person unrelated to us has to deal with. Yet, more people are afraid to go home. Dejected by the conditions we return to, sometimes afraid to even go home, however, the reality is that we are all affected in one way or another.

One of my professors once said that “people are punished, and then they commit crimes”. That statement has stayed with me ever since and resonates more with me when I think about most of the social issues we face back home. People are suffering; there is a blatant disregard and disrespect of the citizens by our elected officials. As a society, we are apathetic to our neighbors, we simply do not care about each, and most importantly and sadly, we have failed our children.

I choose to discover because I believe in being my brother’s keeper. I choose to discover because I want my children to share in the pride that I feel to be a Nigerian. They say home is where the heart is. My heart is in Nigeria, I choose to discover because I want to be home. I choose to discover because it is our obligation to leave this place better than it was when we found it. The people who shed blood did just that. It is our turn to pass on that torch, most importantly; we can not and must not pass a dead torch to the next generation. We must re-ignite the torch before we attempt to pass it on. I choose to discover because I am tired of being a part of a society that punishes people unjustly for being born without a silver spoon. I choose to discover because I believe in the promise of a new Nigeria.


Queen Uchekwe
MNIA Team

Candid Questions with Dame Patience Jonathan

As you may know, Nigeria's very own, Dame Patience Jonathan (wife of Nigerian Vice President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan) is being honored on Saturday April 25, 2009 at the African Focus Awards. But with recognition comes responsibility. This is our chance to hold our people accountable!

We have to ask the tough, but necessary questions. We have to ask what they are doing for us and what they are doing for our future. We must question the time and effort they put into ending the disparities between people in Nigeria. We must interrogate the policies they adopt and the many ways they fail to help their people. We must bring our concerns to the forefront and with honesty and candidness ask why it is so difficult to get around the red tape (or should I say the green white and green tape) and provide HELP to my own people. We must ask why the governmental and non-governemental organizations (i.e. Ministry of Education) still exist when they cause more problems then solutions. And we must ALL get involved! Nigeria is not going to change unless WE do something about it and hold ourselves and, especially, our people of distinction to a standard worthy of respect.

What can you do? Ask questions! This is your opportunity to ask Dame Patience Jonathan questions that are relevant to the Nigerian movement, questions that hold her accountable and questions that you have been waiting to ask a person of distinction.

Sample questions:

• When you hear about atrocities and human rights violations committed against your people, what do you do and how do your remedy these situations?
• What are some of your interest and public involvements?
• Where do you see Nigeria in the next 5 years? 10 years? 50 years?
• What would be your contribution to the development of Nigeria in the next 10 years?
• How would you compare yourself to First Lady Michelle Obama?
• What is the wife of a Vice President responsible for? What do you do?
• What do you stand for?
• What will be your legacy?

We will gather all of the questions and present them to Dame Patience Jonathan when we meet her on April 25, 2009. Please submit your questions to me at ronke@missnigeriainamerica.org.

ALL SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE BY WEDNESDAY APRIL 22, 2009!!!

Love,

Ronke A. Oke
Miss Nigeria in America, 2008