Info on Lagos, Nigeria

[Cowtown Pilot]

Colleagues:

Looks like a may be headed for Lagos to fly on an ex-pat contract. Any info on the following would be much appreciated:

General west Africa flying tips (500 NM radius from Lagos)

General opinion on Nigerian airline maintenance: good or bad

Aviation security issues

Personal security issues (FYI, I am US), and best places to live taking that into consideration and ground commute times from the good places to live.


Regards, C.P.

[srobarts]

Am I right in guessing that you have not been to Lagos yet?
I worked there for a year around 10 years ago. As an SLF I chose my domestic airlines carefully.... Not sure what has changed since then but I guess not much.
The best place to live was always Victoria Island but the commute to the airport was tedious at the wrong time. At least you can buy food when stuck in the traffic jams.
As far as life in general is concerned Lonely Planet will be an invaluable source. Be very careful with credit cards, a colleague paid for a meal with one and within days had numerous charges to his card which were not his. Get a local to guide you for the first couple of weeks until you get a real feel for the place.
Enjoy Kokos and if your are very brave Club 21 in Apapa!
Good luck

[Cowtown Pilot]

You are correct Sir. This would be my first time.

[surely not]

Cowtown Pilot if you use the search function on here you can read the threads and comments left by many of us who have worked in Nigeria recently. There are quite a few threads already giving plenty of different views.

You don't mention which company you are going to work for yet this is key to giving a response to you as there are big differences from one company to another..

Happy searching

[soggyboxers]

Cowtown,

Surely Not has hit the nail on the head. There is a whole book full of information on this site. I'd beware of trusting anything from Lonely Planet Guide or similar travel publications as they go out of date often before they're even published. As has been said, a lot will depend on which company you're coming to work for here as information from your co-workers already here is normally the most valuable. There's another website from which you can garner a lot of information as most of its members are long-term Nigeria hands, and that's Oyibos Online (http://www.oyibosonline.com)
This has sections on Lagos specifically and constant updates on the security situation once you are a registered member.

There's still a lot to do in Lagos, but as in any large city, some areas can be very dangerous, especially at night. There are many good bars, restaurants, and weekends at the beach during the dry season are always fun, especially if you can rent a beach house and have a barbecue. Don't expect prices to be cheap, there's quite high inflation here at present, but if you're bringing in hard currency to change the Naira has had a very high depreciation in the last few weeks as there's a shortage of Forex. Be careful changing money and again, take advice from your colleagues on this.

Come with an open mind, don't listen to a lot of the horror tales as many of them are apocryphal and have been doing the rounds for years. I've been here for many years, have survived a number of attempted hijackings, work in the Niger Delta, where we have numerous security problems, but I still like and enjoy Nigeria. I hope you do too.

[Cowtown Pilot]

Soggyboxers, thank you so much. I am looking forward to the adventure. If you see a guy wearing cowboy boots do say hello. We'll grab a pint. :ok:

Although while I am there I will be from Calgary, Canada (shhhhh)

[thebaron007]

Acass Snafu!!!
Anyone hear anything about an ACASS crew that was recently jailed in Lagos, Nigeria? Would love to know the details and what led to it. Hope you are not contracting through Acass you too might end up in Jail. Cowtown Pilot from Calgary, Canada.

[coltrane]

Hi CP,
If you're used to civilzation, please forget about Lagos!! Or you'll get depressed like I did.. People have quite a different mindset there.....

Good luck

[mile_high84]

My father works in Lagos and has done for a couple of years now. The general info I get from him is that the pilots are generally treated very well. Security is pretty tight but I would assume whichever company you work for will ensure you're accomodation is a safe place and you get transported to and from the airports etc

Weather wise I hear its pretty hit n miss there, although nothing major to report.

Not sure if any of this helps, good luck!

[sleeper]

quote "I've been here for many years, have survived a number of attempted hijackings" unquote.

soggyboxer, really , you have been there too long, if you think this is normal and Lagos is safe.

Cowtownpilot: Search pprune and decide for yourself. When we have a layover, we get escorted to the hotel and are not allowed to leave the hotel grounds!

[soggyboxers]

sleeper,

The attempted hijackings were some years ago and I wasn't meaning to imply that they're normal - though that was at a time when a significant number of helicopters were successfully hijacked. I actually believe that Lagos is more dangerous than down in the Delta, mainly because of the number of armed robberies there, though again I've only been involved in robbery attempts on me in Port Harcourt.

However, as long as you're aware of things it's not as bad as some people on here would have one believe. I always loved Douala because there's so much to do there, yet I was mugged on my first night in town!

As an expatriate you probably have to be more careful because you're immediately identified as someone worth robbing (though my Nigerian friends have been robbed more often - probably because they do go out much more and lead their normal lives), but within the constraints that life imposes on one in Nigeria these days, it's still possible to have an enjoyable time. Yes, in many other countries in the region, the quality of life is much higher, but there are also much worse places to be - and it's always warm :}

[LongJohnThomas]

soggyboxers,
I could not have put it better myself!!!:D:D:D

[Cowtown Pilot]

My thanks to all! They indicated a need "ASAP" but not suprising, they are dragging thier feet and I've already received several other offers in the mean time.

Cheers!