How to Listen to Nigerian Radio Online
Published
You can stream Nigerian radio live in any browser, with no download and no account: open 72FM's Nigeria page, choose a station and press play. Nigeria has one of the loudest, funniest and most competitive radio cultures anywhere — stations in English, in Pidgin, in Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo, with presenters who are stars in their own right and a constant supply of Afrobeats.
How Nigerian radio got here
Broadcasting was a government business until 1992, when the sector was opened to private owners. Raypower, which began in Lagos in September 1994, was the first private station, and the commercial dial grew quickly after it. Today the federal and state broadcasters still run stations across the country, and private radio dominates the cities.
Lagos and the big commercial names
- Cool FM — the Lagos hit-music station, on air since 1998 and one of the best-known names in Nigerian radio.
- Wazobia FM — the station that made Pidgin mainstream. It launched in Lagos in 2007 as the first Pidgin-language station, and its presenters' style changed the sound of Nigerian radio.
- Nigeria Info — news and talk, with phone-ins on the day's arguments.
- Metro FM Lagos and Metro 97.7 FM — more of the Lagos dial.
Beyond Lagos
Nigeria is very large, and its cities have their own stations.
- Splash FM 105.5 in Ibadan and Yes FM 101.7, also Ibadan.
- Urban Radio Enugu and Radio East in the south-east.
- Usaku FM 90.5 in Yola, in the north-east.
- Nagari Radio, in Hausa.
Pidgin, and the other languages
Nigerian Pidgin is the closest thing the country has to a shared everyday language, and radio is where it is most at home: fast, funny and direct. Alongside it, stations broadcast in Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo — often several in the same day.
Hausa is also a language of international radio: RFI Haoussa, the French international broadcaster's Hausa service, is the most-voted Nigerian-listed station in the directory, and the BBC, VOA and Deutsche Welle all broadcast in Hausa as well. For millions of listeners across northern Nigeria and the Sahel, that is where the world news comes from.
The sounds that come from here
Afrobeats. The global pop music of the last decade — Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido, Tems and the rest — is Nigerian, and Nigerian radio plays it in its own context, in between the adverts, the jokes and the traffic news. LagosJump Radio is one of the directory's Afrobeats streams.
Gospel. Nigeria has an enormous gospel scene, and it is well represented online: Nigerian Gospel Music Radio, Afrobeats Gospel Radio, Praiseworld Radio and Gospotainment Radio among others.
Traditional and older styles. Juju, fuji and highlife are still played, and GanGan Radio is given over to traditional African music.
Football. Nigerians follow the Premier League as closely as their own league, and Sports Radio Brila FM is the sports station in the directory. Whether a live match streams abroad is the broadcaster's rights decision.
Listening from abroad
Nigerians are one of the largest African diasporas — in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and across Africa — and radio from home, in Pidgin or in Yoruba or Igbo, is a daily habit for many of them. Expat radio covers it. Nigeria is one hour ahead of UTC all year, with no summer time, so a Lagos breakfast show is early morning in London and the middle of the night in New York.
Sound quality
Nigerian streams vary. Cool FM, Nigeria Info, Brila and LagosJump stream at 128kbps; Praiseworld Radio at 192kbps; some online stations do not report a bitrate at all, which shows as "0" and says nothing about how they sound. If a stream stutters on a mobile connection, why a radio stream buffers explains what to try.
A route in
- Cool FM, for Lagos hit radio.
- Wazobia FM, for Pidgin as it is actually spoken.
- Nigeria Info, for the arguments.
- RFI Haoussa, for Hausa news.
- Nigerian Gospel Music Radio or LagosJump Radio, depending on your Sunday.
All of them are on the Nigeria page, free, an hour a day without an account. For the rest of the continent, African radio online is the next step.
Listen now: All stations from Nigeria
Frequently asked questions
How can I listen to Nigerian radio online for free?
Open 72FM's Nigeria page in any browser, choose a station and press play — no download and no account, with an hour a day free. Cool FM, Wazobia FM, Nigeria Info, Brila and many local and online stations are in the directory.
What was the first private radio station in Nigeria?
Raypower, which began broadcasting in Lagos in September 1994, after broadcasting was opened to private owners in 1992.
Is there Pidgin radio online?
Yes. Wazobia FM, which launched in Lagos in 2007, was the first Pidgin-language station in Nigeria and is in the directory.
Where can I hear Afrobeats radio from Nigeria?
The Lagos commercial stations play Afrobeats all day, and streams such as LagosJump Radio are given over to it.
Is there Hausa radio online?
Yes. Nagari Radio broadcasts in Hausa, and the international Hausa services — RFI Haoussa among them — are in the directory.