MUST READ!!! Meet The Medical Doctor, Danielle Adewusi Who Was Crowned Miss Universe Nigeria 2026
Danielle Adewusi has been crowned Miss Universe Nigeria 2026, but her journey to the pageant crown is different from that of many beauty queens.
The Lagos State representative is a medical doctor, women’s health advocate, model and public speaker who has built a career around medicine and advocacy while also pursuing pageantry.
Adewusi emerged as the winner after defeating 19 other contestants at the grand finale held at Balmoral Hall, Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Sunday, September 27.
According to Silverbird, the organiser of Miss Universe Nigeria, she secured the crown after the final question-and-answer session.
Her victory means she will represent Nigeria at the 75th Miss Universe Festival scheduled for November 24, 2026, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
But who exactly is Danielle Adewusi?
Danielle Adewusi is a medical doctor
Adewusi studied Medicine at King’s College London, where she earned an MBBS and a first-class BSc in Psychology.
Her medical background has also influenced the cause she has chosen to champion.
In an August interview with The PUNCH, Adewusi explained that an Obstetrics and Gynaecology rotation during medical school made her more aware of the challenges women face in accessing healthcare.
That experience strengthened her interest in women’s health advocacy and helped shape the direction of her work outside medicine.
Her official profile describes her as a physician and aspiring obstetrician and gynaecologist. She has also published research in international scientific journals.
Her mother was also Miss Universe Nigeria
Adewusi’s new crown comes with a notable family connection.
Her mother, Tonia Okogbenin, won Miss Universe Nigeria in 1991.
That means Adewusi’s victory came 35 years after her mother held the title.
However, Adewusi has said that becoming a beauty queen was not originally her main ambition.
Speaking before the 2026 competition, she told The PUNCH that her priority while growing up was excelling academically, studying Medicine and becoming a doctor.
She later realised that pageantry could give her a platform to combine several of her interests, including medicine, women’s health advocacy, modelling and public speaking.
She has competed in pageantry before
Miss Universe Nigeria 2026 was not Adewusi’s first experience in a beauty pageant.
In 2023, she represented England at Miss Universe Great Britain, where she finished among the Top Five contestants.
Her previous pageant experience gave her an opportunity to develop her public-speaking and modelling skills before returning to compete for the Nigerian crown.
In July 2026, Adewusi announced her entry into Miss Universe Nigeria, describing her story as one centred on both legacy and purpose. News reported on her entry into the competition.
She founded Scrub the Stigma
A major part of Adewusi’s work outside medicine is Scrub the Stigma, a women’s health organisation she founded in 2023.
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The organisation focuses on health education, advocacy and helping women gain the knowledge and resources needed to make informed decisions about their health.
According to Scrub the Stigma’s official profile of its founder, the initiative runs women’s health education programmes and has established funding to help cover medical bills for women and children facing financial barriers to healthcare at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital in Edo State.
Its programmes include Educate Lagos and Educate Edo, which provide young people with information about menstrual health and wellbeing.
Adewusi has also said she intends to use her new Miss Universe Nigeria platform to expand conversations around women’s health and access to healthcare information.
She has a background in music
Medicine and pageantry are not Adewusi’s only areas of interest.
Her official profile states that she is a classically trained pianist and cellist and studied at the Guildhall School of Music.
She also holds a diploma in piano and has interests in modelling, public speaking and entrepreneurship.
Her public-speaking experience has included serving as a UN Women UK delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women, according to her organisation.
The experience exposed her to discussions around women’s rights and health challenges across different countries.
Why did Danielle Adewusi enter Miss Universe Nigeria?
For Adewusi, pageantry is closely connected to the work she is already doing.
In her interview with The PUNCH before the competition, she said she had always wanted to enter Miss Universe Nigeria but wanted to first reach important milestones in her medical career and foundation.
She explained that she eventually came to see pageantry as a platform through which she could combine her interests rather than having to choose between them.
That approach also explains the emphasis on women’s health in her advocacy project.
Rather than treating her medical career and pageantry as unrelated pursuits, Adewusi has presented both as platforms through which she can advocate for women and girls.
What happens next for Danielle Adewusi?
Adewusi’s first major responsibility as Miss Universe Nigeria will be representing the country at the international Miss Universe Festival.
The event is scheduled for November 24, 2026, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
She is also expected to take her Scrub the Stigma advocacy project to the international stage, with women’s health education and access to healthcare forming the centre of her advocacy.
For Adewusi, the Nigerian crown also completes a remarkable family connection.
Her mother, Tonia Okogbenin, won the same title in 1991. Decades later, Adewusi has now claimed the crown herself, bringing her own background in medicine, advocacy and pageantry to the role.
From studying Medicine at King’s College London to founding a women’s health organisation and competing internationally, Danielle Adewusi now enters the next stage of her journey as Miss Universe Nigeria 2026.
