A 25-year-old actor, Emmanuel Ikubese, was on Saturday night crowned “Mr. Nigeria 2014″ at an event held at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Victoria Island, Lagos.
Ikubese also got a car, a modelling contract and N1 million prize money.
The winner would also get the chance to represent Nigeria at the “Mr World” contest in the Netherlands later this year.
Ikubese defeated 19 other contestants to emerge winner of the annual contest, organised by the Silverbird Group.
The event featured stage appearances in different outfits and performances by the 20 contestants.
The contestants appeared on stage in different attires and gave different artistic performances before being reduced to 10
The hosts then took them through a question and answer routine before they were again reduced by half, where Ikubese emerged as winner.
Austine Igwilo and Michael Amilo clinched the first and second-runner up positions respectively.
The winner of the contest told us that he would use his position as Mr. Nigeria to be a good role model and to inspire millions of youths and encourage them to chase their dreams.
He said: “I am currently part of a campaign against HIV/AIDS and I will also do my own projects.
“One of them is the fight against domestic violence because I have come across a lot of such violence in the news in recent times.
“The case of the man who stabbed his wife 72 times got to me and I decided to take it up.
“We are Africans and we are honourable men and beating our women is never a sign of our strength.
“I want to get us talking about God-given innate African qualities again and encourage our men to be real men.”
The Mr. Nigeria 2014, who studied International Relations at the United States International University, Nairobi, Kenya, hails from Kwale in Delta State.
—– NAN