Chidimma Adetshina suffered xenophobic attacks in South Africa while contesting for the Miss South Africa beauty pageant, and she decided to quit the competition.  

Some South Africans questioned her nationality because she was born in South Africa by a South African-Nigerian father and a Mozambican mother and called for her disqualification.

Following her withdrawal from the competition, the organizers of the Miss Universe Nigeria beauty competition reached out to her and offered her a place in the contest.

Chidimma Adetshina contested as Miss Taraba and was crowned winner out of a total of 25 participants at the grand finale on Saturday, August 31, 2024, at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos State. 

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Prior to the grand finale, Chidimma Adetshina described the Miss Universe Nigeria as “a second chance in achieving one of my biggest dreams and my biggest goals, and I’m really excited. I’ve always wanted to be a model; I wasn’t really educated on pageantry and all of that.” 

“When I first knew what pageantry was, it was in 2017, and that’s when I told myself I want to be the next Miss Universe. So, for me, it’s just a thing of I had goals and I set them for myself, and I’m here to achieve them. So, I think I’m just aligning with what I’ve always wanted to do, and I’m really grateful for that.”

She also praised other contestants for embracing her wholeheartedly, stating that “since I’ve gotten here, I’ve only received so much love and encouragement from all of the girls. So, I came in here thinking that a lot of them will feel some type of way about the invitation and about me actually coming, but I can guarantee the words of encouragement, the support I’ve been given by these amazing women has been there, and I’m just really happy that they accept me, and that they are not feeling some type of way after receiving all the critiques and the comments about this advantage that people might feel that I might have had.”