SAS,
As far as Caverton goes, they're an irrelevant joke who's management has never grasped the concept of market forces, despite their playboy MD allegedly having a degree in economics. The management of Bristow and CHC are so far out of touch that they'll do nothing to stop the haemorrhage of pilots and engineers from Nigeria until it's almost too late and they can no longer maintain or crew contract aircraft - and that day is getting very close
Advice for anyone being offered a job with either Bristow or CHC in Nigeria - if you can afford it, just keep them hanging on a string for a few months longer, because your ultimate reward may be to get paid what the job there is actually worth. Just remember that 9 expats were kidnapped and held hostage in the last few months, a bunch of policemen were shot dead and a bullet damaged a helicopter in a CHC base recently, and then ask yourself if it's worth risking your life and the future of your family for just a measly few dollars more
Everyone acknowledges that Iraq is a war zone and is offering salaries concomitant with that. Nobody wants to acknowledge what the CIA already knows - that Nigeria is home to a low-level civil war that has all the prospects of becoming a full-fledged civil war when the Presidential elections happen in 2007. Anyone remember Biafra -because the Biafran separatists who killed numerous population census enumerators 2 weeks ago certainly do.