WENTY-YEAR good-looking , alluring and charming Miss Onyinye Ogor, a Deltan and final-year Economics and Statistics student of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Benin-City, Edo State is the current Miss Oil and Gas Nigeria (MOGN), 2007 and in more or less two months time, she will step down for the next Queen.
MOGN coronet has been applauded as a high-status peace project and one of the most fascinating

Miss Onyinye Ogorbeauty parades in the Niger-Delta, the money-making strong hold of Nigeria.

Already, hundreds of girls are taking their turn at the various screening centres- Royal Marble Hotel in Benin City for those in the South/South and South/West regions to see who becomes the 2008 Queen, while the applicants from the South /East and North Central zones took their turn on June 28 at Wingate Hotel and Suit, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The success of the applicant is based on their grasp of the problems facing the Niger Delta and possible solutions to the crisis.

As a Queen, the holder of the crown is an Ambassador of Peace in the entire region and the spectacle in itself is conceived to buy back the battered image of Niger Delta through peace advocacy for the sustainable socio-economic development in the region; promotion of awareness on the HIV/STD and other diseases; and inculcation of social responsibility consciousness in the youths.

The 2008 edition promises a lot of excitement, as oil and gas companies, stakeholders and some governmental bodies have shown interest in both sponsorship/partnership of the with the organizers of the beauty parade, as a way of not only fulfilling their social and corporate responsibility, but, also contributing to the reinstallation of peace and socio-economic development of the Niger Delta.

MOGN 07, Miss Ogor, who hails from Igbodo in Delta State paid a visit to the Vanguard's South-South Regional Office in Warri, Delta State, Wednesday, and spoke among other things on her tenure, her perception of beauty. Excerpt:

What made you to enter into the miss oil & gas Nigeria (MOGN) competition?

Thank you very much. I got to understand that the MOGN is basically trying to develop the Niger Delta area, and they are actually searching for a queen who can be a symbol of peace, one that can reach out to her fellow youth and talk to them about pressing issues of our time in the Niger Delta area.

So you eventually won the maiden edition of MOGN to become the queen, what do you think were the reasons that made you to win?

Well, I would say first and foremost that there has to be brain, your brilliancy and your height counts for you to win, and secondly, your beauty, poise and elegance. Basically, I think those were the main attributes that made me to win.

You talked about beauty, poise and elegance, what is your own concept of these attributes?

Well, beauty they say is in the eyes of the beholder, but, you don't only see it from the outside, being beautiful on the inside is much more important.

For me, if I were to judge a beautiful person, I'll want to see what they have on the inside, because if you're beautiful and what comes out of you is nothing to write home about, I wouldn't appreciate that.

Then elegance is the way you carry yourself, which makes you stand out from every one and every other girl around you, this normally reflect in your style, dressing, aura and so on.

Most men, when they look at you, they are looking at the vital parts such as the face, boobs, lips and so on, so from what you must have noticed, which part of your body do you think they admire most when they look at you?

(Laughter) If you ask me, I will say it's my face.

Is it your nose that they look at when they look at your face, can you be specific?

Just my face, you know my nose, my eyes and my lips. (Long laughter)

So what do they say about your lips?

(Laughing) They don't really tell me the thing about my lips, but they compliment my nose, they say it is pointed and so on.

You have being holding this crown for almost a year now, and with your status, most boys in school will be saying “hmmm! We must have something to do with this girl”, so tell us what life has been like being a queen?

I must say that I've got more audience, more friends, and more admirers, which is what comes with being a queen.

But also the fact that I know that these people are there does not mean I should always give in, it does not mean I should pay attention to everyone, but still I try showing courtesy. And once in a while we can get talking, but if you push too far, I'll advice you as politely as I can to simmer down.

So you don't want them to push too far?

(Laughter) No, I don't think they should.

What have these guys really done to come push closer to you?

The truth is, when you see a queen, you are filled with urge, but it takes a few bold ones to actually walk up to you, and those few bold ones can actually come to you rude or polite.

Like I'll say, if you come in a polite way, I'll give you a listening ear, but all the same, I wouldn't give up myself just because you came polite. I am a queen, and I am supposee to be a role model for other girls.

Do you have a boyfriend in school?

No, no, no.

Are you trying to say you don't have at all, even outside the school (laughter)?

Like I said earlier, I'm a role model, others are supposed to emulate me, so I don't think I am supposed to keep a boyfriend or boyfriends.

Since you became queen, do you still eat at those local restaurants (Mama Put) in school?

(Laughter) Yes, I do normal things. Being a queen cannot stop me from living my normal life, because I think I like it.

So you eat “eba” like other babes also?

(Laughter) I am an African, and being a queen does not change that.

When well-dressed and beautiful girls walk pass, guys look at them and most of the times wink at them, so do you notice men wink at you when you pass as a fine-looking lady?

Well, sometimes, but very few. To me, I think winking at a woman passing is rude, I don't really like it. I believe it is always better to walk up to her and make your intentions known.

When you pass with this kind of figure, do you know that you are causing a lot of sensation in men?

(Prolonged laughter) Yeah! I know that.

So how do you feel or react knowing that a lot of guys are not feeling at ease?

(Laughing) I must say that I feel really great... (Long laughter)...well, well, well, I like it; I just like the fact that I create an impression in men, yeah! I like that part.

You know guys do talk about women a lot, especially when they see a beautiful one at that, so tell us about women, do they still talk about men also; the height, the looks, the built, and what do they really say about men?

I will say women are better gossips than men (laughter). Of course we do gossip about men, basically their looks, height and so on.

You know that you look sexy, and how many men have been telling you that?

That I look sexy?

Yes, how many men?

Lots of them, But eh, I think it's rude.

(Laughter) You mean it's rude to say a girl is sexy?

To me, it is not a nice comment, it is not a polite comment, you know, I don't really know how to put it.

Can I understand you better because I know that when men look at you and say you are sexy, it is a compliment and not a rude remark?

You look sexy when you are dressed sexily, like showing-off some parts of your body. So you are addressed the way you are dressed. Someone can look at you and say you are beautiful, while another can say you are sexy. So it's all about how you dress yourself.

Tell me your experience as Miss Oil & Gas Nigeria, some cases we have heard that the cars and money normally advertised are not really being given to the winners, and now that a new queen us coming to take your crown, what should she expect?

The person should expect a car, cash that will be paid to her monthly as a queen, she will be expected to go for courtesy visits and also pet projects, visiting the Niger Delta areas, trying to solicit for fund for HIV/AIDS awareness, and campaigning against pipeline vandalism and violence in the Niger Delta.

Also, she'll be a role model to a lot of people, in her school an around her environment.

How can this competition be used in stopping militancy in the Niger Delta?

As the queen and symbol of peace, I believe dialogue is always the best way to settle differences, so I would go out, pick the young able bodied men and talk to them on issues, and the aftermath of the violence.

Were you able to do that all this while?

Yes I did.

You went to the creeks?

No, no, no (laughter), what I did was … I went to schools, held public seminars in local areas in the Niger -Delta, and I spoke with the youths on the disadvantages of violence and so on.