Other names Kocogirl Years active 2009-present Education Nnamdi Azikiwe University Other name Kocogirl | Hometown Nise, Awka LGA Height 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) Residence Nigeria | |
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Full Name Collete Kosisochukwu Barbara Nwadike Born 6 April 1991 (age 25)Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria ( 1991-04-06 ) Occupation Model, beauty queen, actress No. of films The Calabash, The Cast,Single Diary, Royal Mission,Fixated, O42. Similar Genevieve Nnaji, Mercy Johnson, Ini Edo | ||
Collete nwadike wins miss tourism 2014
Collete Nwadike (born Collete Kosisochukwu Barbara, 6 April 1991) is a Nigerian model, Beauty Queen and Actress. She represented Nigeria in the Exquisite Face of the Universe Pageant in Sao Tome and emerged winner, becoming the first African to do so. In 2014 she was the winner of Miss Tourism Nigeria. One month after her victory on a courtesy visit, she was appointed S.A to the Governor of Anambra State Chief Willie Obiano.
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Early life
She was born on 6 April 1991 in Makurdi, Benue State. She is a native of Nise, Awka-South Local Government Area, Anambra State, Eastern Region, Nigeria from the Igbo language tribe. She was born to a family of seven children. Her parents are Simon and Angelina Nwadike. She has five sisters and a brother and is the last daughter and second to last child. Nwadike grew up in Makurdi in the middle belt of Nigeria, where she did her primary and junior secondary education before moving to Lagos to complete her senior secondary school.
In an interview with Nwadike, she said: "As a young girl growing up, I was always seeing myself as a [beauty] queen when I was three. I kept on looking up to people like Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Regina Askia-Williams. I saw how beautiful they were and how glamorous they looked. I thought of being like these people someday! This is a dream I’ve had for a long time. And it's like I’m living my dreams now."
Even as a child she had the ambition of becoming a beauty queen; she was called princess among family and friends. She was inspired in 2001 after watching Agbani Darego, the first native Sub-Saharan African to win Miss World.
Education
She went to God's Heritage Nursery and Primary School, Makurdi, Benue State in 1993-1995 and to Holy Ghost Nursery and Primary School, Makurdi, Benue State in 2000. She went to Anglican Secondary School, Makurdi, Benue State from 2001-2006 and completed her O’level in Caro Secondary School, Olodi-Apapa, Lagos State. At the age of 16 in 2007, she got admitted into Nnamdi Azikiwe University, where she studied English and literature. After her bachelor's degree, she served in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Nigeria from 2014-2015.
In an interview with Nwadike regarding her choice of course she studied in the university, she said, "I got the form myself and I actually filled in English Language and Literature for the first time but when it didn’t work out, I got another form and filled in the same course the second time. My interest in English is really in literature. I love reading books and that was one of the reasons I went for literature as a course. I’m really interested in Nigerian literature."
Pageantry
Nwadike has competed in different beauty pageants such as Miss Global Nigeria and Miss Earth Nigeria, where she was a runner up. In 2014, Nwadike was crowned Miss Tourism Nigeria, held in May at Lagos State, Nigeria. She represented Anambra State, among other 35 contestants representing their states. After a series of screenings, Nwadike was crowned the Pageant Queen that night; her eyes were filled with tears of joy.
In December 2015, she represented Nigeria in Exquisite Face of the Universe held in Sao Tome and Principe. Involving over 50 contestants from different countries in all part of the world, she emerged victorious and brought home the crown making her the first black woman to ever win the title.
Modeling
Before becoming beauty queen, Nwadike has auditioned and participated in different modelling contests and has been featured in various shows. She works with some talented and well known fashion designers and stylists in Nigeria. Nwadike has judged numerous pageants, and fashion and modeling competitions including Miss Tourism Nigeria 2015, and Mr. Universe Nigeria 2015.
Success and setbacks
As a child she admired many beautiful models and actresses with glamorous dress and attires. She went for her first ever modeling beauty pageant contest where she participated in the Miss NASELL (National Association of Students of English Language and Literature) in 2010. It was in her first year in the university. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it to the top 3 but she still didn’t stop. She further went ahead to contest for Miss (UNIZIK) Nnamdi Azikiwe University and looked forward to becoming the university queen but she still didn’t make it. She thought to try pageant out of school competitions and went for the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria (MBGN) pageant, but unfortunately she didn't even make it pass the auditions. She made it through the Port Harcourt audition but stopped in Lagos. Sadly it pulled her momentum down, and it weighed her deeply that she almost gave up feeling like she wasn't good enough or maybe too young. But she didn't back down, she went for Miss Earth Nigeria, Where she got into camp in Lekki, Lagos and she did well in camp though she didn’t emerge one of the runners up. The event was held at "Incubator." She was awarded Miss Earth Photogenic. Her race to becoming beauty queen continued in 2012 when she competed for the Miss Global Nigeria pageant. At that point, it was tough to continue with the negative comment she received from people, comments that would have made her give up. But her mom rekindled the spark in her by encouraging her and urging her to keep trying, reminding her of her childhood dream and what she always wanted and motivated her. She was strengthened by the support of her mom and realized she couldn't stop, wanting to bring happiness and achieving her dreams. She contested for the Most Beautiful Girl in Abuja and emerged Second Runner Up in 2013.
In 2014 she saw the Miss Tourism Nigeria pageant on the Internet. She auditioned in Owerri, Imo State and out of the multitude of girls at the auditioning, she was the first girl they picked. She was amazed, believing it to be a good sign. She represented Anambra State and she was confident about it. She was camp among other 26 beautiful contestant, who had been selected from all over Nigeria to represent each State, She got a little intimidated seeing the other contestant with their A game on. They were all ready and most of the girls were really intelligent, they had various cerebral activities such as quizing, debating etc. The event was scheduled on 17 May 2014 and was held at Ruby Gardens. After a series of pageantry and elimination reached the top 5. She was the first to be asked a question and a lot of people expected her to stutter or get taken off balance but due to her experience in different pageant, she kept her cool and calmness, and gave an answer that received a standing ovation.
Acting
She has work with different Veteran Film Makers in Nollywood such as Obi Emelonye, Ikechukwu Onyenka, Kasvid Movies, SimonPeaceMaker, Ndave David Njoku etc. She is the CEO of ScreenGoddessGlobalProductions and successful completed of a movie series title African Beauty yet to be displayed on screens
Other work
A month after being crowned Miss Tourism 2015, she went for a courtesy visit to meet the Governor of Anambra State Chief Willie Obiano. They went for a tour around the state to see the different tourist sights. On her visit she was announced S.A to the Governor on tourism. Ever since then, Nwadike has been working with the State Government while participating in her other career.
Personal life
Due to her busy work schedule, Nwadike stays away from home and her family travelling around the globe for her career. She has no actual base, moving from location to location to shoot films. She is a representative of the Miss Tourism Nigeria brand.