Beauty pageants and peace building initiatives can actually incentivize investment inflows into Nigeria’s oil rich region, real estate success strategist, My-ACE China has opined.

China, who offered this opinion on Sunday, September 8, 2024 at the Rivers Queen of Peace 2024 pageantry in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, urged stakeholders consider peace building as a major task aimed at rebuilding the economy of their States and attracting investors.

The investor also said Port Harcourt can compete with Dubai, if peace is promoted effectively by all stakeholders, stressing that he has teamed up with the promotors of the Rivers Queen of Peace pageantry to create a platform for peace advocates.

The two brands came together last weekend in Port Harcourt to produce the Rivers Queen of Peace 2024 pageantry where Tobechi Elendu, 18 years old was crowned to lead the platform to preach to the youths and businesses on the need to promote peace and boost investments.

The Mayor of Housing thus says if the peace efforts were sustained, tourists would flood the state, fleeing businesses from other climes would choose the Garden City, and the city would grow exponentially.

Thus, investors came together at the ANXY Place in Port Harcourt vowing that peace must be pursued with all seriousness if Rivers State and the oil region wished to take back their place of pride as investment destination in Nigeria.

The Mayor of Housing, My-ACE China, and Christian Okoro, founder of a peace pageantry, said until investors and entrepreneurs find the formula for peace, they may not discover the secret of investment success in the region.

These and other entrepreneurs spoke at the revived Rivers Queen of Peace pageant which produced the next Rivers Queen of Peace, Miss Elendu.

The organisers who commended the Mayor of Housing who is an international peace ambassador for backing the peace pageantry, said Rivers State must be lucky at last to have a Governor of Peace, Mayor of Peace, and Queen of Peace, saying this must surely produce a Community of Peace.

Speaking to flag off the contest, China, the Chief Executive Officer of the Housing and Construction Mayor Limited, said the traditional fashion parade and the cuisine, with the beauty of the costumes he met on arrival, were enough to attract any visitor and sell the state.

He said many visitors have been trapped to remain behind and invest in the state, but urged the inhabitants to return to the days of old when Port Harcourt was the centre of entertainment and tourism.

“This is the power of prosperity that Port Harcourt or Rivers State commands. I must however warn business people in Rivers State that the global walls are coming down due to social media. For this reason, perception is now greater than reality.”

“Most persons now work with what they hear about you, or what they perceive. Many do not bother for the reality. So, put your right foot forward first. If you don’t smile, nobody will come to embrace you.”

He reminded the people that Dubai thrives on force of attraction to visitors and profits from every single person that visits there. “So, if you don’t smile, you lose out. Rivers State can be like Dubai.”

On why business people like him keep shouting for peace, he said it was to create an environment needed to create wealth and profit.

On how his outfit would leverage the Queen of Peace platform to drive peace in the state, the real estate success strategist platforms were necessary for reaching milestones and serve as ventricles to ventilate ideas express better opinions over negative ones.

“So, we are going to work closely with these people and our peace-loving government to ensure that our best foot as a state is put forward.”

“On how those who promote peace could contend with those who promote crisis, the investor said: “My own approach is to swallow them in the noise.”

“If the people not embracing peace are making a loud noise, those of us that are making peace should make a louder noise because we live in a social media world, that he who makes the highest noise would be heard.

“Perception has become stronger than reality. It is only those that are heard that shape the narrative of the perception of a place. So those of us that are peaceful should shout the peace louder than those that are not peaceful, so that the world can hear us and actually know we are peaceful, because those that are peaceful are in the majority and we should not allow the minority be louder than us.”

In his opening remarks, Okoro, the co-founder of the Rivers Beauty Queen of Peace pageantry, explained that the pageantry was revived after 2019 due to the new atmosphere in the state.

Saying peace is a collective responsibility, he said it is the only thing that attracts investors, not availability of mineral resources or good government policies. “These ones ride on peace to attract investors. For this reason, we preach peace. Rivers State is heaven of peace. So, we have assembled these bevies of beauty as peace advocates.

“We will move to all the zones in Rivers State to preach peace. We have the buy-in of the government as expressed by some commissioners especially for youth, for information, etc, plus the Secretary to the State Government (SSG). The Youths commissioner has made some concessions to the all the participants (entry into the Youth Resource Centre when completed).

He commended the Mayor of Housing for sponsorship of the project, and said, the crown changes the story.

The event began with drama-let that depicted the understanding that Rivers is safe for business and investment, but that there should be no need to fight because there is rather enough to go round.

According to the chairman of the panel of judges, Chidiebele Okoye, head of ‘DMOMA’ Awards Committee, 18-year-old Tobechi Elendu won the contest while Angel Mere and Lilian Larry came second and third.

The beauty queen outlined their plans to work with groups and teams to promote peace in Rivers State and the oil region.