By Sahr Ibrahim Komba
FREETOWN: Aug 8 (232news.com) – The winner of the AYV Miss University 2022, Mariyam Lorba Konneh has been unveiled as a representative for the fourth coming Miss University African pageant, an international pageantry that will be held in Nigeria in November 2022.
Mariyam Lorba Konneh will be among contestants from fifty-two African countries that will participate in this year’s competition in Nigeria.
AYV Director of Commercial Marketing and Brand, Daniel Moore in a Press Conference which took place on the 4th August, 2022 at the Africa Young Voices (AYV) Media Empire stated that the competition will not only celebrate beauty and brains but will also celebrate good character especially the way African women should behave in public. ‘
“We are celebrating the Africaness in women’’
He added that the competition does not allow the Western type of pageantry which displays nudity but one that portrays Mariyam’s Muslim tenets and Islamic culture through pageantry.
Daniel Moore said that they are happy to unveil Mariyam L. Konneh who has been chosen to represent Sierra Leone in the Miss Africa University 2022 also underscoring how she doubles as Miss IPAM and Miss University AYV.
He noted that the upcoming pageant will not just celebrate beauty and brains but will also celebrate good character, maintaining that it is not just about being beautiful and brilliant, but having a good character as well matters and Mariyam possesses those qualities.
Mariyam L. Konneh, a year two student at the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM) studying Banking and Finance said that she always wanted to be a star and this is the perfect opportunity to showcase to the world what she is capable of doing.
She narrated that she was raised in a decent environment adding that her father is very strict and had a negative perception about pageantry but after she enlightened him about how a Hijabist from Somalia contested and won pageantry, his perception has changed.
Mariyam assured the public that she will win the crown because she is good in manipulating people adding that she was able to convince her father into seeing pageantry in the good light. And she will definitely use the same skills to convince the judges in the contest.
“I will win the crown if I make it to the top ten,’’ she said.
Hawa Turay, head of the AYV Miss University Committee, said Mariyam is beautiful, intelligent and a well composed woman and that was how she proved herself to the judges in the AYV Miss University Competition 2022.
She expressed optimism that Mariyam will deliver as expected, adding that Mariyam is the right person for the competition disclosing how she has been preparing for the said competition.
Mrs.Turay highlighted her readiness to give Mariyam all the supports she needs for the contest. She encourages Sierra Leoneans to support her in any way they can in helping her to bring the crown home.
Musu Konneh, the mother of Mariyam expressed her gratitude to God and the AYV Media Empire. “I am a proud mother,” she stated.
She affirmed family’s commitment to her daughter’s dream in becoming a star. She added that her daughter is respectful and the family will do its best to support her.
Somalia is the current country that has the Miss University Africa title.
