The unlikely story of a former US Marine who became the darling of Nigerian radio for two decades

Original Story Published by: Yomi Kazeem, www.qz.com
Photo Source: Reuters/Temilade Adelaja

(Above) The ever-busy Lagos became home for Dan Foster

In hindsight, it seems improbable that a former US Marine and high school football player born in San Francisco, nearly 8,000 miles away from Nigeria, would end up becoming arguably the biggest broadcast personality of a generation in Nigeria.

But that’s exactly what happened with the late Dan Foster—the legendary radio presenter who moved to Lagos at the turn of the millennium and became a national radio sensation. Foster, 61, passed away last month after contracting Covid-19.

The scale of Foster’s popularity and larger than life personality has shone through in the aftermath of his death with tributes coming from friends, family and fans, who grew up listening to and falling in love with Foster for nearly 20 years across four stations in Lagos.

Foster’s journey to Nigeria started with responding to a 1999 ad in Radio & Records, a now defunct publication for the US radio and music industry. Cool FM, one of the the three new private radio stations in Lagos at the time, was looking to hire an American radio presenter, partly to differentiate themselves in the local market and also because of they needed someone familiar with the US industry standard software they were adopting. Foster fit the bill after cutting his teeth working with local radio stations in Maryland and got hired on an initial two-year contract.

Then 41, Foster took a mid-life career turn that became a two-decade love affair with Africa’s most populous country.

“He was an instant hit when he came and he just never left,” says Chris Ubosi, who ran Cool FM at the time. With a refreshing, witty and spontaneous style that incorporated fun games and on-air pranks, Foster’s breakfast show quickly stood out on local airwaves which had been previously dominated by formulaic styles at state-owned radio stations.