The organisers of MISS 9JA have announced plans to introduce a toll-free telephone service to enable young Nigerian women in rural communities and areas with poor internet access to participate in the national pageant without spending money on data.
The initiative, according to the organisers, is aimed at eliminating digital barriers and ensuring that every eligible contestant has equal access to the competition regardless of her financial or geographical circumstances.
The Head of Digital Strategy at MISS 9JA, Eon Irinen, disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists on Wednesday.
Irinen said applicants without internet access would be able to request a call-back, after which members of the pageant’s customer care team would complete the registration process with them over the telephone at no cost.
She said the initiative aligned with the organisation’s commitment to make the pageant accessible to every eligible Nigerian woman.
“We removed the entry fee and we removed paid voting, and we were right to. But a young woman in a village who cannot buy data is just as excluded as one who cannot buy a form,” Irinen said.
“If she has to choose between her application and her airtime, we have not actually opened the door. We have only moved it.”
She added that applicants would not require smartphones or internet connectivity to complete their registration.
“We are going to call her. She will not need a smartphone, she will not need a data bundle, and she will not need to travel to a cybercafé. She will need a phone that rings, and somebody on our side who is willing to sit with her for twenty minutes and get it right,” she said.
Irinen also directed the organisation’s communications team to maintain direct contact with contestants from registration until the national finale.
She said every enquiry received through the pageant’s social media platforms would receive a response.
“A young woman who comments under a post at one in the morning asking whether she is tall enough, or whether being married disqualifies her, deserves an answer. Not a like. An answer. Nobody gets left behind because nobody answered,” she added.
Also speaking, the Founder and Director of Partnerships at MISS 9JA, Adenike Isi Adeeko, said the decision was consistent with the organisation’s objective of removing financial barriers from the competition.
“We have said from the beginning that the crown should not be decided by who can afford it. Data is a cost like any other. If we are serious that money should not decide this competition, then the absence of money cannot be allowed to decide who gets to enter it,” she said.
The organisers said entry into the competition remains free, while public voting will also be conducted free of charge through verified accounts, with each voter allowed one vote every 24 hours.
Applications for the maiden edition of MISS 9JA will close on October 10, 2026, while public voting is scheduled to commence on October 15 and end on January 31, 2027.
The 37 state queens, representing the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, will compete at the national grand finale in Abuja on May 29, 2027, where the winner will receive a ₦10m cash prize, the official crown and the organisation’s signature gold signet ring.
