Oliver Nakakande On Her Tale of Resilience and Silver Linings!

It has been nothing but lessons!

Oliver Nakakande didn’t waste her time during lockdown; from a successful Instagram Live series where she hosted Miss World, to harnessing the power of the digital space to execute her duties as Miss Uganda, the 28-year-old beauty queen has nothing but lessons. “I understand that we are in this together, and this has kept my hopes high,” she tells me via WhatsApp chat.

Producing stories such as this one is nearly impossible in this day and time; interviews are done via email, whatsapp or zoom, photo shoot sets accomodate just a handful of people, and the cost of putting everything together is an even bigger obstacle. But, it all doesn’t compare to our September cover star, Oliver Nakakande’s reign as Miss Uganda which has evidently been tumultuous. From her crowning moment which was ‘very very dramatic’, a pandemic which has almost stolen the spotlight from her and more.
But as they say, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, although Nakakande chose to take it up a notch higher by making chocolate cakes. Despite everything that’s going on, she’s bustling with resilience and optimism and fully fuelled to kick off another year as Uganda’s reigning beauty queen. (Due to the pandemic, there won’t be a pageant this year.)

Just like everyone, she’s adjusting to this new normal, although she can’t fail to note that it’s challenging. “Executing my duties as Miss World Uganda requires a lot of person to person interactions which I’ve had to avoid,” she says. Being an advocate for the rights of the girl child, a role she assumed immediately after returning from Miss World, she has been running various campaigns to keep teenage girls in school. “This work requires my physical presence and so it’s been hard adjusting to conducting trainings via video call or zoom,” she explains.

For someone who was thrust into the limelight only to arrive and there was no light, I wonder how she has managed to stay hopeful. “I’m a very positive person. I’ve cultivated new ways to engage with people, listening to their experiences, and restoring hope and togetherness in their lives regardless of what’s going on,” she says. “I did a lockdown series on Instagram Live where I hosted fellow Miss World sisters from around the globe, Mr. World, and a few local artists. During each session, we’d talk about how the pandemic is affecting the communities they live in, mental health, menstrual health management, among others. I understand that we are in this together, and this has kept my hopes high.”

This also allowed her sometime to polish her digital presence a little more too. She’s very popular on Tik Tok, the infamous video sharing app. “I Joined TikTok years ago but I wasn’t active until Lockdown. It’s one of those platforms that has only good vibes. It’s exactly what I needed.” One of her most watched videos is a hillarious take on the #BlackLivesMatter movement which was going on in America at the time. “Of course many of us Africans desire to live in Europe or America, but considering the challenges black people are facing there, it’s much better to stay here and create our own success stories.”

In an interview with Satisfashion UG shortly after winning the crown, Nakakande described herself as a ‘gym addict’. “Have things changed?” I ask. “Honestly, it’s been hard keeping up with the same energy I had before. I had to learn how to adjust from exercising in the gym to doing it all at home,” she tells me. “My workout regimen includes 100 daily squats, morning stretches, skipping, and chances are you might run into me jogging around my neighbourhood. I love working out and keeping in great shape. I guess I was born for this.”

Dress – **Harriohouse** (located on Muyenga road next to Ethiopian Village)

Even with this level of commitment and resilience, there have been times when she had to muster unique ways of staying on course.
The finale of Miss Uganda last year was as usual, very glamourous and colourful, until minutes before a winner was announced something unusual happened. A tiff ensued between women who were supposed to announce the winner. As Nakakande and her first runner-up waited to hear if either of them would be named Miss Uganda, the exchange of words went on followed by a charged audience which called them out for their behaviour. “I honestly don’t remember much about what happened, I had come so far, all I wanted to hear was my name,” she tells me.

“Later the next day, I woke up to news on social media and in the papers. Honestly I was embarrassed. Something like that to happen in the full view of Miss World and the Miss World Director, I couldn’t fully process why they had chosen to do it that day and time!” She continues, “even when I went to Miss World I was still embarrassed and feared that Vanessa (Miss World 2018) and Julia Morley would look at me differently.” “But, when I look back I totally understand why they did what they did,” she muses. “Although it wasn’t the right place and time to do it. It was a bit unfair of them because that moment was for the girls whose lives were about to be changed.”

It’s impossible to not ask her about the blow-up on live TV where a journalist behaved in an erratic manner while interviewing her in April this year. In true ‘beauty queen style’, Nakakande handled herself with poise and class, the experience was truly a shocker, for us and for her. It’s not an uncommon occurrence that a woman sets out to bring a fellow woman down, but doing it live on national television was a new territory. The show has since been suspended and the journalist apologised, but the incident sparked off a huge conversation on why women fight fellow women.

“I love to address women fighting fellow women,” she tells me. “I’ve seen women fighting fellow women since the day I got this precious crown. I believe it’s caused by jealousy and wanting to win alone. Every time they see someone else winning, they get insecure, and the only way to deal with it is by tearing her down. We all need to register it in our minds that We Can Never Be Good at Everything, and that’s why God created us uniquely different. Failure to acknowledge one’s achievements leads to envy. I believe the term Women Empowerment lost meaning, and it’s mostly used to mean the opposite. I love authenticity, and I think we have a lot of work to do to educate ourselves about the real meaning of Women Empowerment and practice precisely that.”

These and more are the challenges that come along with being in the limelight. “I got into this well knowing that there’s a lot of negative energy but I wasn’t aware it would be this much.” “Something about me that most people might not know is that whenever I get told that I’m not good enough, it fuels me to go even harder on what I do,” she emphasizes. “Social media can be nasty because users hide behind a screen to say whatever, I can’t avoid those, they’ll always be there, but then again, I get so much love from social media; therefore, I choose to focus on that.”

Nakakande can’t deny that hers has been a turbulent reign. “It has been a giant roller coaster; I’ve had blows, hugs, love and hate, fake smiles, and most importantly, lots of lessons. I’m glad everything happened the way it did. I’m way stronger and wouldn’t trade it for any other thing,” she muses.

When I ask about her achievements she poses for a minute before telling me about her many engagements and the Miss Uganda Foundation campaigns she has fronted. But none of these compare to the young mothers whose lives she has changed. As part of the Miss Uganda Foundation, she fronted the ‘Keeping a Girl Child in School’, project where she travelled all over the country encouraging these teenage girls to go back to school.

This experience compelled her to start her own ‘Menstrual Health Hygiene Management’ campaign where she travelled to schools in Iganga and Tororo training teenage girls to make reusable sanitary towels. 86% of girls in Uganda drop out of school because they lack access to sanitary towels. “It’s heartbreaking to hear what these girls go through. And of course, when they drop out of school they end up getting pregnant as teenagers,” she continues, “restoring hope in the lives of these young girls is what I’m most proud of. No one desires to have their full potential cut short at such a young age.”

Her other achievements include of course representing Uganda at the 69th Miss World pageant in London last year. “Representing my country and becoming the first Miss Uganda to place in all major challenges at Miss world was such a great accomplishment,” she writes, this time with lots of emojis. “I became 4th Runner Up Miss World Top Model, I won a head-to-head challenge in my group, I finished in top 8 in sports.” She continues, “for the first time, my face was on the cover of the Miss world Beauty With a Purpose Magazine and I made friends from around the world who are now sisters.”

We then delve into her skincare routine. “I struggle a lot with my skin, she tells me, “having oily skin and developing acne can be stressful, especially when you’re having impromptu public appearances every now and then. But my journey with my skin is a work in progress. I’m learning everyday.” One of the lessons she has learned is allowing her skin to breathe more often. “I’m wearing less makeup. But our skin is different, what works for me might not work for you. The only skincare tip I can give you is to fall in love with your skin. After that, you’ll be able to wither any ‘skincare storm’.”

It’s impossible for me to chat with someone like Nakakande and not ask her about politics. Uganda is preparing for a general election slated to hold early next year. More than ever, young people are getting more vocal about putting their leaders to task to deliver. When I ask if she thinks leaders are doing enough to find solutions to challenges faced by women and youth, her answer is brief.
“I don’t appreciate politics, but I believe our leaders can do better,” she says. “It’s our duty as citizens to vote for people we believe will serve us better.”

As our chat winds down, we talk about her next act. “I got a new baby,” she beams. With the tag line ‘affordability at your doorstep’, The Olive Outlet, her new baby is an online shop. “I deal in all sorts of products from fashion to electronics shipped from everywhere in the world to your doorstep.” “My focus now is growing my business and going back to school to resume my business degree. Giving back to my community has always been at heart even before Miss Uganda, and I’ll continue to serve and help where I can!”