Ruqayyah Adeboye

Queen Ruqayyah Adeboye born 28 February 1999 is a Gender Equality Advocate, an Advocate for Sustainable Development Goals and Nigeria; the Executive Director of United Voice Advocates – a non-governmental organization; and a Nigerian Beauty Queen who was crowned Most Gorgeous Girl Nigeria 2021 , becoming the first Hijabi to clinch the title..
==Early life and Education==
Queen Ruqayyah hails from Ifelodun, Kwara, Kwara State, Nigeria, but was born and brought up in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria. She started her primary education in the year 2001 at Ruby Model School, Maiduguri Borno State, and in 2009, started her secondary education in the same school and graduated in 2014. During her time at Ruby Model School, she received several awards, notable among many was president, Family, and Community Life Reorientation (FACOR) - A Millennium Development Goals program in school. After her secondary school, she went on to further her education at the University of Maiduguri where she bagged a Bachelor of Laws degree.
While in the university, Queen was appointed as the National Vice President of the Law Student Association of Nigeria from 2019 to 2020. She was awarded Most Corporate and Active Student in 2016, and Queen of Vibraphone in 2018. She was awarded Women Rights Activist of the Year and also Humanitarian of the Year in 2021. Along with these awards and recognitions came the Leadership Icon of the Decade award in 2021 as well. Beyond the four walls of her institution, she was named Ambassador of National Museums, Nigeria 2022
==Service to Humanity==
Prior to becoming the Most Gorgeous Girl Nigeria, Ruqayyah performed a number of humanitarian and philanthropic activities. In 2019, she distributed food and personal hygiene kits to 20 Almajiri schools in Maiduguri 2019- 2020 through an outreach called LAWSAN Care. In 2020, she distributed food and non-food items to orphanage homes in Maiduguri. She sponsored competitions and conferences that sought to have a lasting impact on students e.g. JCI debate competition and was also one of the sponsors of The Amazon Summit: She Leads - 11th February 2022. 
Ruqayyah has executed several humanitarian projects geared toward the physical and mental development of the girl-child. In 2018, she executed a project called FEMCare, a sensitization program on the female body, participants received body care items. In 2019, she carried out a Gender Based Violence sensitization program. There, participants were enlightened on what counts as gender-based violence and were taught how to make and use pepper spray as a tool for self-defense. 
In addition to being a philanthropist , humanitarian and Brand Ambassador of quite a number of Modest Fashion Brands, she is the founder of a fashion brand called Majestique Fittings and a Non-Governmental Organization, United Voice Advocates (UNVA). Through her NGO, she began "Project Act on a Goal" which began in 2021 and is currently ongoing. The project aims to inspire young citizens on how as individuals, they can aid in the implementation of SDGs in their community by picking and acting on a goal that aligns with their values. She believes that if everyone in each community would personally align their values to any or all of the 17 Global goals, and act on them, it will go a long way in fast-tracking the achievement of the goals by 2030. Aligned to SDG 6 and 8, she empowered 200 youths and indirectly impacted 400 individuals through a program that focused on teaching the beneficiaries how to make body care and environmental sanitation supplies for personal use and business purposes. For the pioneer edition of Readers to Leaders, she donated 1000 story books to primary schools in Maiduguri in a bid to encourage young minds to develop the attitude of reading to build their vocabulary. She is currently working on another set of projects targeted at the Agricultural sector and aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 4 - Quality Education, Groom Young Farmers Project, and Project take the Healthy Steps. 
==As Most Gorgeous Girl Nigeria==
On winning the title of Most Gorgeous Girl Nigeria 2021, Ruqayyah was thrilled, knowing that it would boost her organization’s humanitarian activities as well as widen her reach and strengthen her voice. She also felt that it would also allow her to implement as many community-based projects as possible, while she helps the youth understand that they could use their voices to not only help themselves but the communities they live in as well. Through her win, she said in her words: “I hope to wear this crown differently on my Hijab in a way that inspires other young girls to want to follow the path. The path to leadership and taking charge of their lives. The path to modesty…”. 
She also aimed to change the narrative that society have about Beauty pageant. In her opinion, pageants are to empower and encourage women to take on leadership roles and contribute to community growth, which is why she would be executing lots of community-based projects relating to education during her tenure as Queen, MGGN. She aspired to mentor both girls and boys by championing programs that will reshape the perception of the role of the girl child in the family and society
As Queen, she executed a number of projects that aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, Sustainable Development Goal 6 - Sanitation and Hygiene, and Sustainable Development Goal 8 - Decent work and Economic Growth. The projects recorded commendable success having impacted 500 youths directly, male & female alike, and indirectly impacted 1000 households in local communities and displaced camps in Maiduguri. Furthermore, she used her online platform to mentor and enlighten young people, and advocate for gender equality as well as Justice and the Rule of Law. 
When asked about the challenges she faced on her way to becoming Most Gorgeous Girl Nigeria, she stated that she didn’t encounter any, seeing that the rules were friendly and unbiased but, from a personal stance, the catwalk requirement gave her a bit of a hard time because she had not participated in any pageant contests before MGGN. She said it was herculean for her to walk in 6-inch heels at the beginning of the camp training but she soon got a hang of it. However, she aced other areas of the training based on judgments from the coaches and camp manager. The ten days she spent in the camp has, in her words, taught her, “not only how to strut in a stylish way but to see diversity in a new light, form life-long friendships and to experience a different, yet interesting contest as opposed to the political contest that I was used to in the University.”
Category:1999 births
Category:Human rights activists