'Because we use just pure pidgin, the market women, the bus drivers, the mechanics that are not educated can listen to our news and actually understand what's happening in government.' 'The common man wants to air their views but speaking in English they're scared – they don't want to do gbagam ,' said Radio Wazobia morning news presenter Steve Onu, aka DJ Yaw. Later, under colonialism, English became the language of prestige. Like its variants in Sierra Leone, Ghana and Liberia, pidgin began as a form of broken English that allowed the country's coastal inhabitants to barter slaves and later palm oil with European traders. As cars swerve through sweaty streets, it can also be heard blaring on Radio Wazobia, a pidgin-only station played in crammed buses, sleek air-conditioned jeeps and roadside food stalls. It's used in slogans scrawled on crumbling walls and flashy billboards.

In Lagos, a Nigerian policeman demonstrated how his English-imported spaniel, Milly, 'dey hear pidgin well well' as she obeyed a series of pidgin commands. Current affairs, English and local languages are brewed together to dish up playful imagery at breakneck speed. Officially known as Naija, Nigerian pidgin is spoken by tens of millions across the country. The reply can range from a chirpy 'I dey fine' to a downbeat 'Body dey inside cloth,' (literally meaning 'I'm still wearing clothes').

Pidgin words and their meaning