Why Miss World Pageant Was Never Held In Nigeria

The Miss World riots of 2002 stand as one of the most turbulent and harrowing incidents in the history of beauty pageants, intertwining cultural, religious, and societal conflicts in a devastating chain of events.

In November 2002, Nigeria was poised to host the Miss World pageant. However, tensions flared when protests, spearheaded by sections of the Muslim community, erupted against the event, which they viewed as immoral and contrary to Islamic values. The situation took a dangerous turn after Isioma Daniel, a journalist for ThisDay newspaper, wrote an article that criticized the protests and included a comment perceived as offensive to the Prophet Muhammad.

The response was swift and violent. Enraged mobs torched ThisDay’s Kaduna office, while churches, homes, and vehicles were attacked. Innocent passers-by became victims, dragged from vehicles and brutally killed. Retaliation came swiftly from Christian communities, who burned homes and mosques in revenge. At improvised checkpoints, travellers were asked to recite John 3:16 to prove their Christian faith—those who failed were mercilessly executed.

As the violence escalated, the Miss World organizers, concerned for the contestants’ safety, relocated the event to London. Meanwhile, Isioma Daniel fled to Benin to escape the wrath of enraged clerics, who issued a fatwa calling for her death.

By the time the riots ended, more than 250 people had been killed, and thousands of homes lay in ruins. Among the lives shattered by the chaos were the parents of Victor Moses, a young boy who would go on to achieve football stardom, carrying the weight of this tragedy in his heart.