Nigeria............

[Jet2LeedsTom]

Evening chaps, I'm posting this in the pilot's bit - not the spotter's bit - 'cos you lot are far better qualified to answer than my fellow amatuers ;)

Right. Flattery over - to business.

A pal of mine has just, commedably in my view, taken on a job in Nigeria having been laid off following the XL fiasco. He's a new pilot and needs the hours. Six weeks on, four weeks back in blighty apparently.

Now.. I'm not sure of his airline, just wondering what the professionals think of Nigeria - perhaps naiivly (and I hold my hands up to that) I'm concerned about a Western pilot on Nigerian domestic routes. One does here of the odd kidnapping or two.... And then there's the safety records...

Cheers all :ok:

[Rainboe]

I have no comment. Pray for him.

[Northbeach]

Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward – author unknown. Your pal is in an unenviable position being low on experience, recently out of work and now flying in Nigeria. I spent a year flying in Africa but it was not in Nigeria. There is a good African Aviation subsection here on pprune. It will give you a realistic view of what this “pal” will be living. If your friend survives, and likely they will, the overall experience of flying in Nigeria will probably be good. It will be something they will talk about for the rest of their life. Unfortunately there are elevated risks involved operating out of any developing Nation. Most of us have lost friends along the way. This is a tough industry. If your friend has a solid background and understands what they are doing and they have good judgment and courage enough not to be bullied into trying to do something stupid with the airplane, then they should do just fine and have a wonderful life experience while gaining valuable flight time!

[Kelly Hopper]

I spent 2 years flying out of Nigeria and it is an experience I would choose not to repeat!
ATC really are the worst in the world. 'Tried to kill me many times and nearly did once! Weather problems, fuel problems, airport problems, the list goes on and on. Your friend has my respect for giving it a go though.
6 weeks on is not nice especially if it is in Lagos. Full of disease and flilth. Very dangerous too. I NEVER left the hotel whilst there. You will be mugged, or worse!
If you can get based away from Lagos that may help. Abuja is not too bad and I made some friends there. Lots of expats. However that IS where I got mugged!
I wish him all the luck there is. I would have to be very desparate indeed to go back!

[surely not]

On the other hand I was there for 17 months, failed to get mugged despite going out of the hotels I stayed in on a regular basis to walk to a nearby superstore or a bar, failed to get any serious sickness, and had a great time.

Maybe being 6' 2" and of heavy build was a deterent to the baddies. It really isn't mandatory to get mugged, very few of the people I worked with, expat or local, were mugged.

The power supply is a problem, and security is an issue. You have to be careful and be aware of what is happening around you.

Some hate the place, others have a lot of fun there.

[Shaunny]

I have been working in Nigeria for a while now, my company is working on a contract here and we are now going onto year 3. We work 2 months here then one month back home.
I have actually noticed how many European accents are being heard from the local airlines lately so it seems your friend is not alone in his decision!
The flying here is interesting… ATC manages to surprise me literally every day…
From putting me on the ILS 1 mile in front of a much faster aircraft to airports with unserviceable approaches to doggy if any approach lights.
Random vehicles and people just cross runways whenever they feel like it and I am still unable to understand why when I ask for surface data it takes 15mins for the controller to locate and read me a 3 – 4 hour old met report… we wont even talk of the mission it is to file a flight pan or to try change my flight planned route. The fuel truck breaks down at least twice a week and I’ve got used to the fact when a local government official lands at any airport they close it, no matter who is inbound or how many aircraft have to hold.
Although to give them credit some of the controllers are good guys just working with equipment that should have been phased out in the 60’s (when it actually works, because if it breaks no fixing takes place) and that combined with the fact most of their English is not the same English as we use anywhere else in the world makes for interesting communication.
Interestingly enough it is impossible for us to get weather info for any airport other than Lagos over weekends and that combined with the interesting weather one can get here makes for interesting flying.
The flying part aside living here takes some getting used to. The people are very friendly and if you have a ‘local’ contact you can get pretty much everything you need…even if the store is possibly the most dodgy place you have ever seen!!! The place is VERY corrupt and you can do literally anything with a few $, problem is that because everyone does things in that way it makes it impossible to get anything done any other way and because of that places like check-in at the airport is complete CAYOS!!! There are certain places, which are not a good idea to visit but that could be said for any major city…
The power supply is…well let’s just say the word supply is a lie. The service in restaurants and hotels is terrible (or non existent), I often think if we had that kind of service in a hotel in Europe the place would never have any guests. Security is a bit of a problem although most hotels have their own security and I don’t feel particularly unsafe but then I don’t leave the hotel that much and I know that security is more of a problem for the people based in the west of the country.
I guess all of this depends where exactly you are but I have been in a few cities here now and to me they are all similar…As mentioned above it is a place you can either have fun or hate every minute off… personally I can work and live here easily but I don’t enjoy it very much.