In 1990, Binta Sukai made history as the first woman from Northern Nigeria to win the Miss Nigeria crown.
Her journey was far from the conventional beauty-pageant story.
Binta’s parents divorced when she was young, and she was raised and educated in the United Kingdom by her Scottish grandparents.
Although she occasionally stayed with her mother in Nigeria, it was during a holiday in the country that she decided to enter the Miss Nigeria competition, reportedly as a way of passing the time.
Her father was from the Ham ethnic group in Southern Kaduna, while her mother is of partial Scottish heritage.
Questions Over Her Eligibility
Binta’s victory generated controversy, with rumours circulating that she was not Nigerian and therefore ineligible to compete.
The controversy was eventually resolved after her Nigerian roots were confirmed. Binta, who was aspiring to become a fashion designer, was said to be one-quarter Scottish.
At the time, some Nigerians were unaccustomed to seeing a mixed-heritage woman who had been raised in Britain and spoke with a slight accent win a national beauty title. Critics questioned whether she was “Nigerian enough,” but the organisers upheld her victory.
She went on to be celebrated as the first Miss Nigeria winner from the northern part of the country.
Life After Miss Nigeria:
After completing her reign, Binta remained in Nigeria for several years before returning to Europe. She later enrolled at the Paris Academy of Fashion, where she studied fashion and history.
She subsequently built a career as a fashion consultant, mentor and competition judge. According to her, the recognition that came with being Miss Nigeria continued to open doors long after her reign.
Binta has appeared at several Nigerian fashion events, including Runways Dreamz in 2007 and the Young Designers Creative Design competition in 2009, where she served as a judge.
In 2009, she also announced plans to establish a beauty pageant and reality programme called Face of Peace. The proposed show was intended to promote peace in Nigeria following years of ethnic and religious conflict, but it never aired.
Personal Life and Continuing Fashion Career:
Binta welcomed a daughter in 2008. In an interview, she said she did not intend to marry the child’s father because she feared divorce, connecting that fear to her parents’ separation.
She has continued to divide her time between Europe and Nigeria while working in the fashion industry. Binta has also disclosed that she operates a fashion line outside Nigeria and hopes to introduce the brand to the Nigerian market.
More than three decades after her historic victory, Binta Sukai remains remembered as the unconventional queen who challenged perceptions of identity and representation and became the first Miss Nigeria from Northern Nigeria.
Source: Ethnic African Stories
