By Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt
Organisers of Miss Polo Pageant have announced the upgrading of the pageant to an international event; Miss Polo International Pageant.
Unveiling the new status of the pageant to journalists in Port Harcourt, the Convener of Miss Polo International Pageant, Mrs. Ibife Alufoghai, also said the organisation does not encourage prostitution and would never allow its contestants to use their bodies to raise fund for the organisation.
Alufoghai said what the organisation needs from contestants is intelligence and beauty.
She said, “Our girls won’t sleep with men to raise money for our organisation. Basically we don’t encourage prostitution in Miss Polo International. We don’t ask for your money, we raise the money ourselves. We just need you to come with your brain and face. We have the platform to carry out our projects.â€
The Miss Polo International convener stated that the upgrading of the pageant was to meet up with the international nature of the Polo game, adding that the main aim of the pageant is to improve education across the world.
Alufoghai said, “Miss Polo International is what we want to start now because we realized that polo game is played worldwide. It is an international game and it is only fitting that we make the pageant an international one. It is a platform whereby young girls come on board.
“Polo is a game of strength and we want to use the platform of polo to organise a beauty pageant whereby we bring up these young girls to give back to the society. Our major aim of Miss Polo International is to improve education in the world.
Also speaking, Manager of Miss Polo International Pageant, Mandy Stuart, said the organisation would organise a Polo Ball to raise fund for charity, pointing out that no other pageant has gone into such a venture in Nigeria.
Stuart said, “We will organise a polo ball to raise fund for charity and I don’t think there is any pageant that does that in Nigeria. The charity will be in terms of schooling to raise the standard of education. We are working at a situation where the emerging queen will be able to identify three schools where we can see if we are in a better position to renovate the schools.
