Ah but 43 dear chap....the truth is in the interviews....for exactly the reasons you cite. Treat a professional in a crappy manner and he leaves unhappy....the key question is why there are vacancies at all. If it is a happy place...with adequate pay and benefits, engineering standards that are beyond reproach, living conditions are adequate, and the staff feel satisfied with their current lot in life.....why the turnover? Why are folks leaving the employ of the company? Just be sure you are comfortable with the answer before you put yourself into that situation is all I am suggesting to you.
The real truth here is....there are no exit interviews. If you read the threads that have been posted here....you will see a constant that carries over in each one of them. I would suggest that everything that is said is not exactly true...either good or bad included and that the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
The question one has to ask himself is....are those the warts that will bother me. If you have a high tolerance for certain kinds of warts...then Nigeria and Bristow is the place for you. If on the other hand their warts are the ones that give you the willies...then maybe not.
I also suggest there are far more folks that have been to Nigeria and are no longer there than are there and like it. There are worse places....have been to some. I have worked for outfits that are worse than Bristow Nigeria.
All helicopter outfits are the same....they have good cycles and bad cycles....the trick is to find one that has hit bottom and is on the way up....ride that pony until the top of the hill is crested and then jump ship looking for another one that is heading up the grade.
The tricky part is judging when the time to jump is right.....and the old saw of being the first rat off the sinking ship is better than being the last rat off is too true.
There are guys in Nigeria that have been there literally forever with Bristow...they have found a way to meet their expectations. There are large numbers of folks that could not find a way to adjust their standards to meet the needs there. For sure, you will meet some very interesting personalities. I have friends that are there that I treasure.
Bottom line... it all comes down to money...if you think you are being adequately compensated and can live with the existing standards then by all means go for it. You will not find it the same as BHL in the NorthSea nor anything like the British Army. That I can promise.