Barely three days after Folio Communications Plc alerted the public to beware of imposters who may want to pose as organizers of Miss Nigeria Pageant, the company said it has discovered a fake ‘Miss Nigeria International’ who goes by the name ‘Shalom’ without a surname, being paraded on social media.
Folio said the lady ‘Shalom’ wears a certain number tag mmni 1819 with the logo of an entity called ‘Elfrique’ which when checked claims to be an event ticketing company and went further to say the claim of an existing Miss Nigeria International was false, fraudulent and criminal.
In a statement signed by the Managing Editor of Daily Times of Nigeria/Media Adviser to Folio Communications Plc, Bonaventure Melah the Company said there is no other company in Nigeria or anywhere in the world with the license, permission or right to organize Miss Nigeria in whatever name or guise other than The Daily Times, adding that arrangements are being put in place to report the matter to the appropriate authorities in order to track down the imposters and bring them to book.
“Folio Communications Plc has stumbled on a social media post with a name called ‘Shalom’ who is tagged as ‘Miss Nigeria International 2018.’ The lady has no surname attached to her.
The promo reads ‘Mr. and Miss Nigeria International 2018 under the banner of one ‘Elfrique’ which claims to be an event ticketing company.
“We have tried to contact the so called ‘Elfrique’ with the mobile number on its address but it has always responded ‘not available.’
Folio therefore wishes to quickly alert the public that no company or organization is permitted to organize or promote Miss Nigeria Pageant in whatever name or guise except Folio Communications Plc, owners/publishers of Daily Times of Nigeria.
“This early warning has become necessary to protect unsuspecting members of the public from being swindled either in according the fake ‘Shalom’ undeserved attention or young women tempted to register to participate in any such ‘Miss Nigeria International’ contest as may be organized by Elfrique or any other organization,” the statement said.
It would be recalled that Folio on Tuesday last week raised the alarm that some unscrupulous elements may be planning to defraud unsuspecting members of the public especially young women by asking them to pay for participation in a fake Miss Nigeria contest, adding that official announcement for the commencement of the 2018 entry will soon be communicated through appropriately channels.
Folio in addition disclosed that participation in Miss Nigeria contest would henceforth be free of charge as against N5,000 that was paid in the past, saying the gesture is in line with its ‘Beyond Beauty’ concept introduced to encourage and empower more women to pursue their dreams on a larger scope rather than just on physical attraction.
“There are hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of young women out there that are blessed with both beauty and intellectual capacities to participate in the contest, win and become sources of pride to their families, Nigeria and Africa.
Most of these young women, especially from rural communities may not be able to pay even N500 to participate in the contest.
Realizing the huge number of young women that are yearly shut out of the opportunities that pageants provide, the management therefore decided to abolish payment of entry fees from this year’s edition so that many more doors and window of opportunities are opened for everyone that has confidence in their selves to dare.
“To that end, Folio hereby encourages all young women in Nigeria to wait for the announcement of the 2018 Miss Nigeria free entry which will be made soon.
Once announcement is made and registration portal opened, any qualified young Nigerian woman is free to take advantage of our new policies and register through the appropriate platforms,” the statement said, promising that the 2018 edition of Miss Nigeria will be unique in many ways.”
“The winner of 2018 contest will receive lots of juicy packages that would be announced soon. For others, apart from free entry and participation, the first top 50 participants will receive a minimum of N100,000 each to empower and support them in their education, entrepreneurship or any other positive endeavour of their choices,” the statement said.
The statement said that Miss Nigeria is the exclusive right of Folio Communications Plc, owners of Daily Times of Nigeria which is part of the assets and liabilities Folio inherited following its successful acquisition of Daily Times in 2014.
“Folio has successfully hosted Miss Nigeria over the years with Heritage Bank as official sponsor in partnership with NAPTIP and GAC Motors, the three of which have existing 5-year partnership agreement while Barrister Ezinne Akudo Anyaoha, the 2013 Miss Nigeria is the publicly announced Creative Director of the pageant,” the earlier statement had added.
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