Controversial Accra based Nigerian radio presenter, Adaeze Onyinyechie Ayoka, also known as Ada, has disclosed that she is planning to host a beauty pageant for patients of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital.
Making the revelation on Hitz FM’s Showbiz Filla with Amanda Jissih, Ada said, “it’s about time people paid attention to people who are mentally ill; they are logical, they just see things differently. Even in that state, [they] can still do positive things.”
Ada spent some time on admission at the Police Hospital after allegedly staging her own kidnapping and gang-rape in 2014. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
As stated by her, the pageant is to bring the stigmatisation of mentally challenged persons to bare.
“The idea is to invite the public to have games with everybody, why won’t we have Mr. and Miss Accra Psychiatric. Every year we are going to do it and we are going to have so many faces then we can raise the flag on stigmatization against mental illness,” she stated.
Commenting on the 2014 incident that grabbed national attention, Ada stated it has made her stronger.
She said, “I was strong in the past but this whole thing made me 10 times stronger than I used to be. I have no regrets, if I had to turn back the hands of time, I will never change what happened.
“They all make me the kind of person I am today. This is the kind of woman I wanted to be, I thought I was going to be that at the age of 50. But now I’m this young, and I can tell every other person that regardless, pick up yourself and let’s just move on, [some things] are bound to happen, we can’t do anything about them.”
Ada also disclosed that she is putting together her alleged kidnapping and gang-raping story into a documentary titled ‘Ada come out after one year,’ to tell the world what really happened.
“I think one of the things I’ll do in the future is put together ‘Ada come out after one year’. I have a team working on my one-year project that is going to put the whole one-year thing together for us to fully talk about what exactly happened.”
The pageant is scheduled for Sunday, May 2, at the premises of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital.
On the day, the inmates are expected to sing the Ghana National Anthem and sing other songs, recite poems, catwalk and showcase their talents. Some doctors at the facility will be judges.
“I am inviting everybody to come and socialise with the patients,” she pleaded.
Nigerian Pilot