Here's how the pay works at Max:
1. Go to office and wait to see if the Senior Account bothers to come to work that day. Repeat this step four or five days. When you finally catch the Senior Accountant in the office (trying to sneak out the side door) he tells you the Chief Pilot has not approved the payroll yet.
2. Go to the office and wait to see if the Chief Pilot bothers to come to work that day. Repeat this step two or three days. The Chief Pilot tells you that he signed, but the D.O. has not stamped the payroll yet.
3. Go to the office and wait to see if the D.O. bothers to come to work (sober) that day. Repeat this step three or four days. The D.O. tells you that he has stamped the payroll and it is now with the Director of Finance.
4. Go to the office and wait to see if the Director of Finance bothers to come to work that day. You discover that the Director of Finance is in the office every day, but he hides behind his locked office door. The Director of Finance says the form is with the M.D.
5. Go to the office and wait to see if the M.D. bothers to come to work that day. After several days of waiting, the M.D.'s secretary tells you that the M.D. is in California on business. You make numerous calls to the M.D. before he takes your call. He says the form was approved before he departed and it was left with the Vice Chairman.
6. Try to go to the office and wait to see if the Vice Chairman bothers to come to work that day. You can't get transport to the office because all the crew transport vehicles have been commandeered by the D.O. to transport several loads of goats that he is selling on the side. You take a taxi to the office and are told by the Vice Chairman's secretary that the M.D.'s brother in Kano is handling all the payroll paperwork while the M.D. is out of town.
7. Try to go to the M.D.'s brother's office, but none of the crew transport vehicles have fuel. There is no fuel available in Kano and the lines at the petrol stations are a kilometer long. Take a taxi the next day to the M.D.'s brother's office. He won't see you because he is in a very important meeting. Some "local" guy waiting in the outer office (a freelance money changer) tells you that there's no problem with the salary payment, but the M.D.'s brother doesn't handle pay issues. He suggests that you should speak directly to the Chairman.
8. Go to the office and wait to see if the Chairman bothers to come to work that day. After doing this for a few days, the Chairman's secretary tells you that the Chairman only comes to the office on Sunday evenings. The Chairman's secretary also tells you that the payroll has been approved, but they are having a hard time getting such a large amount of U.S. dollars. He says the Senior Accountant is currently in Abuja working to get the cash. The secretary recommends that you check with the Senior Accountant in a few days.
Back to step #1. The crews in Kano refer to this pay procedure as "The Full Manwani." The system is designed to keep you from getting your money. It's even worse for the fools who contract with a third party. You'll never see what you're owed!!