Editing Agbani Darego (section)

==Pageantry==
In 2001, Darego was crowned Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria. Contrary to popular belief, Darego did not replace Valerie Peterside after the latter was dethroned; Peterside had competed in rival pageant Miss Nigeria. A few months later Darego was a contestant at [[Miss Universe]], and became the first Nigerian to place among the top 10 semi-finalists, finishing seventh overall. She was the only top ten contestant to wear a modest [[one-piece swimsuit|maillot]] as opposed to a revealing [[bikini]] during the swimsuit competition.<ref>[http://www.punchng.com/spice/personalities/glamour-queens/ Glamour queens] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122212250/http://www.punchng.com/spice/personalities/glamour-queens/ |date=January 22, 2015 }}</ref>

In November that year, she became the first Indigenous African to claim the [[Miss World]] title (Past winners [[Penelope Coelen]] and [[Anneline Kriel]], both of [[South Africa]], are of European descent, and [[Antigone Costanda]], who represented [[Egypt]] in 1954 is of Greek heritage). Darego's victory was widely welcomed in her home country, and her one-year tenure included goodwill trips and scheduled appearances on behalf of the pageant, and an [[Orders, decorations, and medals of Nigeria|MFR]].