Darego, a tall slender girl with warm, empathetic eyes and a wide innocent smile, affectionately called as Agbani was the first Nigerian and the first Black African woman to win the Miss World beauty pageant. She was crowned in Sun City, South Africa in the 51st Miss World pageant held on November 16, 2001. 

In 2000, she had been eliminated from the Nigerian qualifications for the M-Net Face of Africa modeling contest. But she later became Miss Nigeria, but only after the original winner was disqualified, leaving the title open for the first runner-up. Thus she got a chance to appear for the Miss World title. She was also a semifinalist in Miss Universe 2001 and Webmasters choice winner for Miss Universe 2001. Raised from a humble background, Darego the sixth child in a family of eight, describes herself  as a born-again Christian. She is currently pursuing a modeling career in Europe.