Glad NEO is continuing. I expect that managing the problems that we Darrel's dregs just leave to people like him makes him a bit pi$$ed sometimes. He's the one who has to take the flak after Bristow management pay one of their rare visits, cluck over the poor state of the kitchens, agree that we have no facilities, tut over the state of the night standby rooms, agree that we should have better internet so at least we can communicate at a speed faster than slug speed, then promptly go away, make some small concession and think we're all going to be pathetically grateful at being part of the most profitable operation in this country. Meanwhile the big oggas in Lagos all behave exactly as they always did with the Majah and PeeWee isolated in their comfortable office but doing things their own way and causing national pilots to leave for Aero. Now it's rumored Caverton are getting 412s, I wonder how many will leave for them?
Back in Houston I guess they all think that everything here's hunky-dory, that the entire focus of our lives is Target Zero and that we believe Bristow really does communicate and keep us in the loop. The truth is that there's no communication with us here, except occasional one way communication (or diktat) from totally out of touch Human Resources people.
On the subject of Human Resources, we get no communication at all from our so-called HR Manager in Guernsey. Over here, we're not employed by Bristow, but by a shabby little outfit called British Island Airways Guernsey Limited, or BAIGL. The arrogant, stuck-up ex RAF guy who runs that place refuses to ever answer any mails from lowly dregs like us. We're lied to about our pension scheme and one of the guys here is now threatening to sue if we don't get some answers about what's happening to our money.
Well done for telling it how it is. Lagos is dreadful enough in the garbage known as the BRC (British Retiree Camp), but I sure Eket is even worse as at least the BRC has some sportings facilities. The only way Lagos is worse is that the CLA is rubbish and just pays for 3 poor meals a day, but I'm told that in Eket you can now have 3 lousy meals a day free and have a bit to spend on drinks to help you forget your troubels
this is intersting about the pension. What is being done with it? I know British companys in the past have stolen funds and Robert Maxwell I think stole evertything.
NEO and I joined BHL on the same day, and I'm sure he will be back here either under his nom de plum or an alternative. I suspect a misunderstanding...........
Jomo Gbomo, one of the regular spokesmen for MEND has just this weekend sent another 2 e-mails showing that attcks are not only going to continue, but escalate after the recent success of the militants in shutting down the Bonga, previously thought untouchable because of its distance offshore (around 70nm):
Heeding the MEND call to sabotage oil installations in oil producing communities, a group of angry youths have contacted us giving details of their involvement in the sabotage of the Chevron Abiteye-Olero crude pipeline.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta wishes to commend these patriotic youths who we are now empowering with more powerful explosives and new techniques to destroy additional pipelines inside Delta state.
The government still has time to save face by releasing Henry Okah to partake in a genuine peace process before Nigeria's oil export reaches zero.
Yar'Adua should not be deceived by the criminals within the armed forces who are pushing him to enter into a fight for their own selfish interest as we don't see how the military can emerge victorious in guerrilla warfare and tactics.
For decades we have been deceived and exploited by the criminal Nigeria state. To those youths who are willing to fight for freedom, MEND welcomes you.
Long Live the Niger Delta!
Jomo Gbomo
From: Jomo Gbomo
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 7:35 PM
Subject: Declaration of War!
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) considers the empty threat made by an illegal commander-in-chief of an inept armed forces of Nigeria as a joke.
For underrating our capabilities, the military has been ridiculed world wide after the attack on Bonga. If they want to further expose their weaknesses, then we challenge them to launch an attack on any of our positions.
An attack on any militant position is tantamount to a declaration of oil war. The type of war they are expecting is far from what we plan to engage in.
In order to avoid being caught in a cross fire, we are asking all expatriate oil workers to vacate oil facilities and living quarters in the Niger Delta while we settle our score with an insincere Federal government.
We call on all patriotic youths in the region to sabotage oil facilities in your communities while those willing to be trained to fight are welcome in our training camps. Any community close to MEND camps that harbours security operatives or spies does so at thier risk and such traitors will be punished.
Long live the Niger Delta!
Jomo Gbomo
Meanwhile, it's highly probable that highly qualified graduates will soon help the government in getting out of this mess if yesterday's report by the News Agency of Nigeria of a speech by the General manager of Agip is anything to go by
Quote:
The General Manager, Nigerian Agip Oil Exploration, Mr. Richard Ogunde, on Friday in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State said Nigeria’s oil reserve had only 43 years to dry up.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Ogunde made the disclosure in a lecture at the Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State. Quoting from the latest World oil data, Ogunde said Nigeria’s reserve remained 36.2 billion barrels.
He said in the lecture, titled “Petroleum Exploration, The Economy and Science Education,” that Nigeria had a yearly oil production capacity of 2.3bn barrels.
The oil expert advised government to start looking for other oil reserves. He urged the Federal Government to seek other means of sustenance after oil might have disappeared, “especially now that we have abandoned agriculture.”
The geophysicist accused successive governments of conniving with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to misdirect, mismanage and mis-apply the country’s oil revenue without commensurate infrastructure growth. He criticised the NNPC for engaging in the direct sale of petroleum products by setting up retail outlets in different parts of the country.
Ogunde, who said that Nigeria had remained “poor despite our being rich in oil dollars simply because some people are just habitual bad managers of the nation’s resources,” regretted that the country still suffered from poor energy supply after the exploration of oil for over five decades.
He said, “Unfortunately, if there is no electricity, you cannot develop infrastructure. When a nation fails to develop her infrastructure, there is no way her economy can grow.” He also described the graduates of oil-related courses from the Nigerian universities as “half-baked and unemployable.”
NAN quotes him as saying that many of the job-seeking graduates of Geology and Geophysics with high-class degrees did not even understand simple practical terms in oil exploration and processing. He said, “The situation was so bad that when I interviewed well over 200 of these so-called brilliant geologists and geophysicists, I found less than 10 of them worthy of consideration.”
Ogunde expressed regrets that his findings had also revealed that more than 99 per cent of the graduates were not ready to meet the difficult challenges existing in the oil industry, warning that “the sector does not have room for layabouts who professed to be super-graduates.”
Are these strapping youths rewarded with 70 virgins? Long live the Delta...bah....MEND does apparently not realize that they dig their own graves by polluting themselves.
I think as 212man says there has been a misunderstanding on my part. Let's allow bygones to be bygones, water under the bridge and all that jazz and move on. What do you say ?
I for one would be saddened if this thread were to close, it has been and continues to be a valuable source of information for those working and living in this part of the world and many who are looking to give it a try. Plus, as you said, those who have done their time and like to keep in touch can have a look at their old stamping ground.
Is RL still staying on with Aero or will he be redeployed by CHC? I'd say a great deal of the future morale and pilot numbers in 'New Aero' will depend on what his contribution to Aero was, is viewed by the new managers.
Presumably you did the kissing with SP before selling your genuine brand new fake second-hand handbag at Yaba . Was it a genuine fake made in Aba, or one of those expensive ones made in Milan? Photos of the handbag are acceptable, but please no photos of kissing SP
Effective 12 midnight on Tuesday, June 24, 2008, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) will be observing a unilateral ceasefire in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria until further notice.
We are respecting an appeal by the Niger Delta elders to give peace and dialogue another chance.
Jomo Gbomo
How long this ceasefire may last has not been stated and nor is there any indication for the real reason for it. Maybe the next few days will reveal more
I heard that you were going to donate Nairas from Yaba Handbag sale to make a down payment on an Olympic size jacuzzi and Gulder Dispenser to raise morale and lower morals at Club Darrels.
A truly noble gesture - we look forward to invitations.
I think you'll find that RL either is, or soon will be, transferring to Aero after many years in Canadian. Whether you view that as a positive or not, I have no idea, but I guess Aero rate him or he wouldn't have had the offer.
The question of what will happen with transfers depends on how many Canadians wish to stay living in Canada. If they work for a non-Canadian employer, they don't get the same tax break. I imagine this will have the most bearing when guys come to make any decision as to whether to transfer.
The CHC EC225 crews who had gone to pick up the new helicopters from the Eurocopter factory have been sent home and the aircraft are still in France. The Agbami contract has still not been announced - what's the betting the Bristow S92s will also not be 'on their way coming' until a contract is finally awarded.
The attack on the Bonga field by MEND terrorists has now reduced the Nigerian oil production to only 1.6 million barrels per day. This is having a significant effect on the GDP of the Nigerian economy and is likely to have an impact on oil-related developments. Development of Agbami is already well under way, with both CHC and Bristow flying there in S76s, but without the larger EC225s and S92s which were due to have been here long ago, that development is likely to suffer a significant slowdown. Much of the delay in the award of the aviation contract lies with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, not Chevron. NNPC holds a 60% stake in all foreign oil ventures in Nigeria, but is renowned for its inefficiency and corruption. The President wants to privatise it, but up until now, it still has the power to influence every aspect of the oil industry in this country and its overinflated staff still get their cut of everything . There now seem to be clear indications that several other deep water projects will be significantly delayed or shelved until such time as the government gets to grips with the militants. If past experience is anything to go by the combination of a weak government and a military who are also weak (except when dealing with hapless, unarmed civilians) and corrupt, the situation will not improve at any time in the short or even medium term. Nigeria is already being eclipsed by Angola, and shortly Libya, in oil output. With more finds off the coast of West Africa, most recently in Ghana in countries without the violence of this country, Nigeria is likely to take more of a back seat in future developments, despite its large reserves of hydrocarbons.
The future of the oil industry here, which only 2 years ago seemed to be one of constant expansion, with the helicopter industry following, now seems to be more one of retrenchment until leaders with the commitment and means to get to grips with the twin problems of violence and corruption. Sadly, that appears to be a long way into the future as it will take several generations of change to have any meaningful effect
Any guess how much of that 1.6 million barrels gets "stolen" before it gets to market? Are you still seeing tankers arrive and depart without Customs Agents making their "dash" run to the BOP?
At what point will the lack of oil flow cause a turf war amongst those that are wrongfully benefiting from that kind of activity?
If those in charge were smart they would include MEND as a partner in the racket and benefit from increased opportunity to siphon off more oil than is lost to MEND's efforts.
After all, Nigerian crude is "sweet" and in high demand worldwide.
To me it is a missed opportunity for all of the crooked rascals.
Does anyone have any photos to post of their bases located in Africa, especially in Nigeria? Just want to get an idea of the conditions for the pilots.
Thanks in advance.
Let Battle Continue
Management, Caring, Communication
Things Can Only Get Better
LLLL?
. There now seem to be clear indications that several other deep water projects will be significantly delayed or shelved until such time as the government gets to grips with the militants. If past experience is anything to go by the combination of a weak government and a military who are also weak (except when dealing with hapless, unarmed civilians) and corrupt, the situation will not improve at any time in the short or even medium term. Nigeria is already being eclipsed by Angola, and shortly Libya, in oil output. With more finds off the coast of West Africa, most recently in Ghana in countries without the violence of this country, Nigeria is likely to take more of a back seat in future developments, despite its large reserves of hydrocarbons.
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