Danielle Adewusi wins Miss Universe Nigeria 2026 after defeating 19 contestants in Lagos, continuing her family’s pageant legacy and earning a place at Miss Universe in Puerto Rico.
Danielle Adewusi wins Miss Universe Nigeria 2026 after defeating 19 other contestants at the grand finale held on Sunday, September 27, at Balmoral Hall, Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The Lagos State representative emerged as the new national titleholder after weeks of camp activities, advocacy projects, talent showcases and stage performances.
Her victory was the defining moment of a competition that brought together 20 contestants from across Nigeria. By the end of the night, Adewusi had secured the crown and the opportunity to represent Nigeria at the 75th Miss Universe Festival in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in November.
Danielle Adewusi takes the Miss Universe Nigeria 2026 crown
The competition narrowed to a Top 10 before the finalists faced further rounds testing areas including confidence, intelligence, cultural awareness and stage presence.
The Top 10 included Adewusi of Lagos, Anita Osikhena of Edo, Myya Jones of Cross River, Melissa Toghanro of Delta, Oluwafunmibi Ajaja of Ekiti, Benedicta Iferike of Abuja, Chidinma Oluku of Abia, Precious Chinah of Rivers, Eno Idungafa of Akwa Ibom and Edidiong Udoidua of Ebonyi.
Cross River’s Myya Jones earned an automatic place in the Top Five after receiving the highest number of votes in the fast-track voting round. She eventually finished as second runner-up, while Edo’s Anita Osikhena was named first runner-up.
Ekiti’s Oluwafunmibi Ajaja and Delta’s Melissa Toghanro completed the remaining top-five positions.
At the end of the final rounds, the crown went to Adewusi.
President of the Silverbird Group and National Director of Miss Universe Nigeria, Guy Murray-Bruce, crowned her at the close of the ceremony.
The moment Danielle Adewusi sealed the win
The final question-and-answer session became one of the important moments of the competition.
Adewusi spoke about how she intended to use the platform to positively impact lives and promote meaningful change in society. Her response received strong reactions from the judges and audience before she was announced as the winner.
The organisers also highlighted her confidence, intelligence, elegance and commitment to social impact during the competition.
Rather than presenting an unverified word-for-word quote from the final exchange, the confirmed details show that Adewusi connected her response to the broader purpose behind her campaign: using public visibility to advance issues affecting women and girls.
That focus was already evident in the advocacy project she brought into the competition.
Her mother won Miss Universe Nigeria 35 years ago
Adewusi’s victory carries a remarkable family connection.
Her mother, Tonia Okogbenin, won the Miss Universe Nigeria title in 1991. That means Adewusi claimed the same national crown 35 years after her mother, bringing the family back into the spotlight of Nigerian pageantry more than three decades later.
Adewusi had previously spoken about growing up with an appreciation for pageantry because of her mother, although she initially focused on her education and medical career.
She studied Medicine at King’s College London, earning an MBBS alongside a first-class BSc in Psychology. She later decided that pageantry could complement rather than replace the work she was already doing in women’s health advocacy.
The timing of her victory was particularly meaningful because Adewusi had not planned for her national title to come exactly 35 years after her mother’s own win.
From medicine to women’s health advocacy
Adewusi is not new to advocacy.
She founded Scrub The Stigma, a women’s health organisation working in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. The initiative focuses on health education and advocacy, including programmes such as Educate Lagos and Educate Edo, which provide young people with information about menstrual health and wellbeing.
Women’s health was also central to her Miss Universe Nigeria advocacy project.
Her background in medicine helped shape that focus. Adewusi previously explained that her experience during medical training, including an Obstetrics and Gynaecology rotation, made her more aware of barriers women face when trying to access healthcare.
Her pageant platform therefore gives her an opportunity to take an issue she has already worked on beyond her organisation and into a much larger public space.
Danielle Adewusi has pageant experience beyond Nigeria
Although Miss Universe Nigeria 2026 is her biggest national pageant achievement, Adewusi had competed internationally before.
She represented England at the Miss Universe Great Britain 2023 competition, where she finished among the Top Five contestants. She therefore entered the Nigerian competition with previous experience on an international pageant stage.
Importantly, Adewusi was a Top Five finalist, not the winner of Miss Universe Great Britain. That distinction is important when tracing her pageant history.
Adewusi had also said before entering the Nigerian competition that she wanted to reach important milestones in her medical career and her work with Scrub The Stigma before fully committing to pageantry.
What comes next for Miss Universe Nigeria 2026
Adewusi’s next major assignment will be on the international stage.
As Miss Universe Nigeria 2026, she is scheduled to represent Nigeria at the 75th Miss Universe Festival in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on November 24. The event will mark the 75th anniversary of the Miss Universe competition and will take place at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum.
Her Scrub The Stigma advocacy project will also travel with her as she takes her women’s health message to a global audience.
For Adewusi, the national crown brings together several parts of her story: a medical career, women’s health advocacy, previous pageant experience and a family connection to Nigerian pageantry.
Thirty-five years after her mother wore the Miss Universe Nigeria crown, Adewusi now has one of her own, and a new international stage waiting in Puerto Rico.
