My Mother and I Pressured My Father To let Me Enter The Beauty Pageant, Says Aisha Shatu Garko, The Beauty Queen. Shatu Garko, the winner ...

 My Mother and I Pressured My Father To let Me Enter The Beauty Pageant, Says Aisha Shatu Garko, The Beauty Queen.

Shatu Garko, the winner of the 44th Nigerian Beauty Pageant, has revealed how she convinced her father to allow her to enter the competition.The 18-year-old became the first woman to wear the hijab and won the competition since its inception in 1957.They later came together and softened her father who also agreed and gave her 100% support, as she told The Punch in an interview with the newspaper.

"My mother is very supportive and she shows me it is not difficult but my father does not want it.

"He was worried that they would not force me to take off my hijab or put on clothes that would show my nakedness or that I would be sidelined for covering my body. My mother and I used to talk to him and he agreed so I competed with his consent. ” She said.

According to her, people have been criticizing her for going back to school to study instead of competing.

Asked if she had ever faced a challenge to enter the competition, she replied: "Yes, I am not the only northerner, I have been ridiculed by others. Some have said that I will tarnish the image of the competition."When I entered this competition I did not think I would win but I persevered and won the title." Inji Ta.