Margaret Cassell

Meet Olubusola E. Bankole — Miss Freetown 2026
Contestant
There’s so much more to Olubusola E. Bankole than the woman you’ll see on the Miss Freetown stage. She’s a proud Sierra Leonean Nigerian, a lawyer-in-training, model, advocate, and young woman who’s passionate about using her voice, her story, and her platform to make a difference.

Born and raised in Freetown, Olubusola holds a Bachelor of Laws in International Law and is continuing her journey toward becoming a practicing lawyer. She currently works as an Assistant Librarian at Tower Hill Kindergarten Primary School, where she works with children and has found another meaningful way to contribute through education, confidence-building, and creating spaces where young people feel seen and valued.

But her story isn’t only about education and career.

Olubusola is also the founder of Proudly patterned.sl, an advocacy platform created from her own experience with vitiligo. Through Proudly patterned.sl, she advocates for greater awareness, education, inclusion, and representation for people living with vitiligo in Sierra Leone. From campaigns and storytelling to media conversations and public education, she’s working to challenge the stigma surrounding visible differences and create a culture where people feel seen, represented, and enough.

And then there’s modelling.

For Olubusola, fashion and modelling have always been forms of self-expression. But being in front of a camera or walking into a room isn’t simply about appearance. It’s about what you represent when you’re given the opportunity to be seen.

That’s part of what makes her Miss Freetown journey so personal.

She’s stepping into this experience as a young woman who wants to represent the many sides of a modern Sierra Leonean woman: ambitious but grounded, intelligent and expressive, compassionate and determined, confident enough to take up space while remaining connected to where she comes from.

For Olubusola, the crown is only one part of the journey.

She wants this experience to open conversations about representation, confidence, education, advocacy, beauty, and the possibilities available to young women who dare to dream beyond what’s expected of them.

She’s a daughter, sister, friend, advocate, model, aspiring lawyer, and dreamer. She’s still learning, evolving, and becoming, and she’s bringing all of those experiences with her into the Miss Freetown 2026 journey.

This isn’t simply a journey to a crown.
It’s a journey of purpose, representation, growth, and becoming.

So, meet Olubusola.
Get to know the woman behind the name, the story behind the smile, and the purpose behind the journey.

Happy birthday Kenema coffee 🎊🎉🎂 live long and flourish in good health and prosperity 🥂 enjoy your day.

Le God geme long life lek me Grani 🙌
Happy 80th birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 Mama Mary
Le God answer all you prayers 🙏

Happy 80th to my very strong Grandmother 💪 💓