What's New In W. Africa (Nigeria)

[Keke Napep]

What's happening at Aero Contractors these days? Their AW139s both seem to be in the hangar as does their S76C+. There are also rumours that a new Managing Director will soon be arriving to take over from Obaro Ibru, the playboy son of disgraced banker Cecilia Ibru. They certainly don't seem to be doing much in Port Harcourt except some charter work in the few remaining elderly Dauphins they operate.

Despite many stories of 6AW139s on the way to be in Nigeria by the end of July, CHC/Atlantic Airlines also seem to have gone all quiet. They just have 1 AW139 at Nigerdock's Snake Island Integrated Free Zone base and an old S76C+ on the military side of the NAF Base in Port Harcourt (I wonder how wise a decision that is, given the number of times the NAF has expelled all civil operators from the NAF Base - maybe things are different now the country is supposedly a democracy?).

Indigenous Engineering Procurement and Construction company Nestoil, which currently operates a VIP S76C+ is expected to be getting 2 AW139s delivered soon as it takes over the onshore oill acreage it bought from Shell (Odidi, Egwa and Bataan fields) and also takes over the Shell IA in Warri.

Bristow seems to be continuing its expansion in Port Harcourt with the present fabric hangar being expanded, new passenger terminal just about finished and rumours of a fourth S92 due in the next few months. I wonder if this is linked to Total selling their stake in the offshore Usan field to the Chinese and Exxon Mobil taking over as the operator?

Caverton seems to be having some turbulence with rumours of feuding between the new deputy Director of Operatioons and his bosses and the expected departure of Nigel Mortimer as project manager of the Shell operation, possibly because of his less than cordial relationship with the Director of Employee development.

[Phone Wind]

Bristow Target is for !00% Nigerian Pilots

According to an interview poublished in Nigeria newspaper, the Daily Independent, Bristow aims to totally Nigerianise its pilot workforce. However, I notice that the target date of 2015 for this happening which was mentioned in previous articles now seems to have been dropped

The General Manager, Human Resources, Bristow Helicopters, Mr Femi Collins, in a recent interview, with Correspondent, Abel Orukpe, said that apart from the fact that the rotary wing giant will continue to train Nigerian pilots and engineers to reduce the number of expatriates working in the country, the company’s target is to have 100 per cent Nigerian pilots. He also spoke on the number of Nigerians Bristow has trained as pilots in the last five years, and that training of pilots is a huge investment. Excerpts

How many Nigerians is Bristow Helicopters training this year, and where?

As it is in our tradition in Bristow Helicopter, we are about to train another set of Nigerians to become pilots in our ever expanding Nigeria aviation industry. This is not the first time we are doing that. In fact, in Bristow we are noted for incubating Nigerian pilot in the rotary wing of the aviation industry. We have the highest percentage of Nigerians trained as pilots in the helicopter wing of the aviation industry. In other words, there is virtually no helicopter aviation company that you do not see ex-Bristow pilots well bread in the Bristow tradition of safety. We do this yearly, and this year, out of over 2,000 candidates that applied for sponsorship, we have selected 16, and these people are today being given final briefs before they depart for their various trainings. The training itself is divided into two. Many of them who have no experience in aviation at all would be sent to the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) in Zaria, and the College of Aviation in Ilorin. The idea is for them to be given an introductory lesson in flying. And they will be there for between seven and eight weeks.

Another reason why we are sending them to these schools is to take advantage of the local expertise in the aviation training in Nigeria so as to ensure that the Nigerian local content policy is deepened.

After successfully completing these seven to eight weeks, they will now be sent to Bristow Academy in Florida United States.

Those among them that have aviation knowledge and already in aviation in what we call Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL), will fly directly to Bristow Academy in Florida in the next two months to commence their training. Their training is expected to last for about 12 months, after which they will become full-fledged pilots and be ready to fly.

As I said earlier, this is our contribution to the Nigerianisation policy in Nigeria’s aviation industry. We expect that when they come back and start flying it will reduce the number of expatriate pilots in Nigeria.

We have continually done this for many years. Even our managing director is a product of this process, Capt Obinna Ojiakor, the deputy head, flight operations is also a product of the this notable selection process of Bristow Helicopters. It is our hope that these 16 successful young Nigerians, which also includes three women will be valuable assets, not only to Bristow helicopters, but Nigeria as a country. Our selection process is very professional and rigorous and for them to have scaled through these rigorous processes is great kudos to the selection process and also to their parents. They are the pride of Nigeria.

What does it cost Bristow to train these crops of Nigerians?

Our cost starts from when we put in advertisement on the pages of newspapers, going through the selection process to when they go for local training and the US training. Our budget is to spend $250,000 per candidate; that is an estimate, because sometimes courses overseas go higher because of certain changes. The one we did last year, we had had to increase it by another 10 per cent. So, by the time you increase the $250,000 by another 10 per cent, you are looking at $300,000 to train just one of them.

Is there a bond between Bristow and the pilots you train?

What I will say is that our target is to have 100 per cent Nigerian pilots. Today that is a dream because we still have a lot of expatriate pilots here in Nigeria. The training of these pilots is like a marathon and we do not get to train more than 10 at a time and when they come, they get infused into the system and at best it just reduces the number of expatriate pilots we would have taken. And because every human being has insatiable appetite for nice things, some of them leave, but our pride as a company is that when they leave, they do not leave the country, they get jobs within Nigeria. That was why I said in my opening remarks that Bristow has a higher percentage of trained pilots in the helicopter wing of aviation in Nigeria today, such that if you go to any of our competitors you will find pilots who were trained by Bristow Helicopters, and that is our joy. There will always be the need for us to train Nigerians. It is Bristow Helicopters modest contribution to the development of Nigeria economy.

What other measures have you put in place to ensure that your Nigerians pilots are not poached by bigger rotary operators?

I cannot think of any better example other than the Managing Director of Bristow Helicopters, Capt Obinna, and many more outside, who are Nigerians occupying strategic position in the business today and even outside Nigeria within the Bristow group. What we are saying is that we have a robust succession plan for Nigerians who are pilots, engineers, or even non-pilots and engineering roles. Some of them have already transited into the managing role. For example, my colleague here is Business Development Manager of Bristow, while Capt Obinna is the Deputy Head of Flight Operations. One day he would transit to be the Head of Flight Operations like the managing director. They are so many. We ensure that from day one, you are employed, we let you know that apart from flying we are also going to develop you into very a capable manager, so that one day you will hold position of responsibility in the company.

What has Bristow’s done for NCAT?

Without sounding immodest, in the last three years we have done very well for NCAT. We have a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between us, whereby we train our engineering cadets, and every year we send a minimum of 12. As we speak, we have about 32 students in the school and we have another 20 waiting to go to the school and this is the trend every year. We have decided to renovate and refurbish two classrooms with modern equipment. We are going to send a helicopter to the school to enhance its training capability. We also ensure that we send tools and text books to the school again to assist in capacity building of the lecturers, and we are still doing more. We have sent at least four lecturers of the institution to advance train-the-trainer’s courses in the United States, and another two are also waiting to go there. The last two came back last week, another batch will be going there in another one month or so, and this will be a continuous exercise.

Are you extending the same benevolence to Aviation College Ilorin?

That is where we are sending these young Nigerians to in the first instance. As you know, the Aviation College at Ilorin is new and we have done our due diligence and we believe that it is time to send our trainees to the school, because we know that they will learn and that the school will add value to their new careers.

Bristow has done much with regards to training of pilots, yet you don’t publicise it?

I think one of the things that we have not been doing very well in the past is to blow our trumpet. We believe in doing this quietly and impacting on positively on the economy of Nigeria. But we have since realised that people don’t know what we do. So this is one of the outcomes meeting the media.

Does Nigeria market have the capacity to employ these Nigerians you have trained?

In the past, helicopter business was about Bristow Helicopter and our next door neighbor, but today you have many more helicopter companies. What does that tell us? There is no way all our trained pilots can remain with us because motivation depends on individual. What motivates me may be different from what motivates you. Some people may just feel like trying what is happening in company B, and when they leave in that manner there is nothing we can do about that. Employment is not about slavery. We cannot force people to stay or to leave. But having said that, we believe that none of our newly trained pilots in the last five years have remained with us, and will continue to be with us. Like I said there are many Nigerians who are chief pilots and people holding various positions within the system.

How is Bristow’s Corporate Social Responsibility like?

We cannot put a tag on how much because that is what you want. The ones we have told you but there may be more because it may interest you to know that for the fact that you have been trained as a pilot and you are back does not mean the end of the training. In fact, that is the beginning. As you periodically, probably every six months, pilots have to go for recurrent training and that cost a lot of money. Changing a pilot from one aircraft to another called conversion is extremely expensive and this happens regularly, especially where you have various types of the aircraft. It is a way of making sure that you maximally utilise the expertise of your pilots. So, if you put all of these in proper perspective, it is a huge investment. We are talking of pilots and we are not talking of engineers whose training you cannot describe, because they have to ensure that the aircrafts are in good health. So, they are continually training with one aircraft type or the other. So we have a lot of investment that is geared towards CSR.

Last year 2012, we sent 11 Nigerian pilots to US for training, this years it is 16, and before the end of year we hope to make it up to 20, based on what we see in the market. In the past five to six years, we have trained more than 70 here in Nigeria, and we have been doing this constantly for about 25 years now.

[SASless]

I wish them luck.....lots of it....great big huge gobs of it....for that to be a genuine commercial success.

[Tango123]

Nigeria is slowly but steadily becoming a fail state. Expats can expect nothing but an increasing hostile environment. Glad I am out of there, forever and ever....

[Keke Napep]

It probably won't matter soon as Nigeria is on the brink of either a social revolution because of the huge number of unemployed youths or a violent revolution as Boko Haram and Ansaru expand their areas of operation to the south.

Nigeria is bogged on a fork on the road but now fumbles a choice between peace and justice.

In its 53-year history, not once has that choice been so stark, as the now blood-soaked country can’t move forward without deciding it. On December 8th last year, the country’s former Vice President, Abubakar Atiku, direly put Nigeria’s un-employment figure at 75 million people, comprising mostly youths.
Interpreted in terms, those hard done by in Nigeria without a job and a means of livelihood therefore exceed the whole population of six (6) African countries put together, namely, Ghana, Togo, Cameroon, Senegal, Liberia and Sierra-Leone, whose combined population of 73 million, is less than the 75 million un-employed people in Nigeria alone.

As the Nigerian State rapidly loses legitimacy for this inability to consequently plan or care for its denuded populace, Nigeria’s laws are now as defiled as they are defied by the country’s growing apathetics.

Indeed, looking in from outside, there’ll hardly seem to be any law in Nigeria anymore. Pistols and revolvers are, for example, publicly sold at the Lagos beachfront on a cheap to any willing buyer who feels angry enough to want to kill or maim somebody, despite that the possession and bearing of arms is criminally prohibited in Nigeria, where paradoxically, gunshots continue to shatter the silence of each night on the Lagos mainland, before the corpses of those robbed or assassinated are later picked up for burial each morning.

“I am afraid - and you know i am an army General, “ said ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo on 27th July last year, “and when a General says he is afraid, that means the danger ahead is real and potent. The danger posed by an army of unemployed youth in Nigeria can only be imagined. There is absence of serious, concrete, realistic, short and long term solution to youth unemployment. Nigerian youths have been patient enough. This patience will soon reach its elastic limit. Nigeria will witness a revolution soon, unless government takes urgent steps to check growing youth unemployment and poverty,” Obasanjo said.

For Nigeria to decide its choice, its government has to firstly forgo the dalliance of official thefts, such as the ₦1.2 trillion representing 25% of the national budget stolen from its federal treasury last year through counterfeited bills of lading used for oil subsidy re-imbursement claims. But so far, the evidence of that dalliance being forgone in Nigeria is not obvious. On the contrary, since January last year when mass protests forced the issue and caused a probe which later un-earthed this ₦1.2 trillion theft, no government official has been named or arraigned as criminally answerable.

A former Lagos State governor, Alhaji Bola Ahmed Tinubu, later took a second look at Nigeria virtually un-ravelling amid such eye-watering thefts, of which he himself is strongly suspected as linchpin, and said “The situation our country is in today is both sad and unacceptable. We are like a people without a leader, a country with no trustworthy men at the helm of affairs, and a nation now lost at sea. Our leaders must commit to a better country, not tomorrow, but beginning now – today, because time is not on our side and the continued patience of the people may no longer be guaranteed.”

As it is, the country’s President, Goodluck Jonathan, is the one most Nigerians expect should resolve Nigeria’s sclerosis, but he’s rather swatted that assignment off with alibis. “I am the most criticised president in the world,” he’d recently said, ruefully, before throwing up his hands and asking if Nigeria ever had good roads, schools or hospitals before he took office on May 29th, 2011, which only got bad thereafter solely by his personal fault.

But just in case the sceptics were still heard of hearing, President Jonathan then all but declared Nigeria un-reformable in its present anomie, even if that meant eating his words for having promised the country’s transformation at his 2011 presidential campaign. “The whole of Nigeria society has failed”, President Jonathan, said deadpan last month June 15th.

“When you look at Nigeria today, we are deceiving ourselves; pastors are deceiving members, members are deceiving their pastors, husbands deceiving their wives, and the wives deceiving their husbands. Parents are deceiving their children and the children in turn deceive their parents. Soon, we would have a whole nation of people deceiving each other,” President Jonathan further intoned in a declarative tone.

The pioneer Editor of Nigeria’s Vanguard newspaper, Muyiwa Adetiba, would later on put it more pointedly. “The conclusion seems to be inescapable in Nigeria that what we have as leaders in politics, business and the civil service are common thieves in high places,” Muyiwa Adetiba said. “The rot is so deep that stealing is now in the family system, in the religious system; even in friendly and social clubs. Everybody is looking for somebody else to steal from. The day our leaders decide they don’t need James Ibori’s kind of wealth or Cecilia Ibru’s kind of property acquisition, that a good name is better than material acquisition; and that leadership at the end of the day, is about people and leaving a place better than you met it, is the day Nigeria will begin a positive walk into sanity and propriety. Until then, Nigeria is just a nation of common thieves,” Muyiwa Adetiba added.

How then can a country officially declared at presidential level as characterised by deceit, implying thievery and frauds, ever start on the road and succeed at reversing its 75 million un-employment crisis to become a praline place on earth for its citizens to live in comfortably?

“Only a bloody revolution can save Nigeria,” said Professor Ben Nwabueze, in January, when he threw away his bemedalled gown as Nigeria’s foremost constitutional lawyer in favour of a physical revolution as the only solution. Corroborating Nwabueze’s renunciation of law - as the means to resolve a pandemic crisis of official thefts, if those stealing Nigeria blind are the state officials who can’t be expected to apply the laws of thefts to themselves - Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, himself a famous lawyer, said “there can never be a meaningful election for progress until a revolutionary change firstly resolves Nigeria’s theft and corruption crisis.”

Both lawyers likely saw the further futility in placing their hopes for change on the same perpetrators of government-level thefts who only coyly select their own members and dress him up in false robes as the messiah, for the duped populace to choose one, but all to the same effect of a make-believe to look like change but ending up as more of the same thing.

“We are actually overdue for a revolution!” said Kano ex-federal legislator, Dr. Junaid Mohammed. “What is wrong with us having a revolution here in Nigeria? Unless, of course, you belong to those who are stealing government money or you have something to hide. Then of course you should be afraid of revolution, because after the revolution, there is what we call revolutionary justice. They will get you, corrupt people, and shoot you. In fact, if they shoot just 500 corrupt people, Nigeria will be a much better place and God will forgive them”.

Well, perhaps so, since the capacity of the Nigerian state itself is putatively seen to be withering away, at least according to the country’s past Chief Justice, Dahiru Musdapher, who said on December 20th last year, that, “our capacity to investigate, arrest, prosecute and convict those found guilty of contravening the laws of Nigeria is evidently weak and compromised. There is no objectivity in national discourse anymore. Our slide into anarchy has assumed dangerous dimensions, beyond the capacity of our security agencies to deal with the menace effectively. Boko Haram insurgency, political violence, corruption, nepotism, tribalism, indiscipline, abductions, and kidnappings, armed robbery, murder and extortion, bombings of places of worship and of innocent Nigerians - are all indicators of a failed State,” the ex-Chief Justice of Nigeria had said.
On that point, foreign countries are agreed that the Nigerian state is withering away.

“The situation in Nigeria remains fluid and unpredictable”, said the U.S State Department on December 20th last year. “In light of the continuing violence, extremists may expand their operations beyond northern Nigeria to the country's middle and southern states. Crime is a risk throughout Nigeria. Home invasions also remain a serious threat, with armed robbers accessing even guarded compounds by scaling perimeter walls, following residents or visitors, or subduing guards to gain entry to homes or apartments. Armed robbers in Lagos have also accessed waterfront compounds by boat. U.S. citizens, as well as Nigerians and other expatriates, have been victims of armed robbery at banks and grocery stores and on airport roads during both daylight and evening hours. Law enforcement authorities usually respond slowly or not at all and provide little or no investigative support to victims,” the American government’s statement concluded.

By not thinking, Nigerian governments at all levels have slept-walked into the grips of revolutionary pressures without any easy means of escape. For once official thefts broke the bonds between the government and the people, the genie was let out of the bottle. And because theft spawns theft, the cycle of vendetta in Nigeria is bound to be un-ending as it extends to the wives and daughters of corrupt government officials, whom the people now target in vengeance for rape and ransom.

A blogger writing on the internet last year on December 30th, Paul Omoruyi, pithily described the Nigeria’s national condition today as follows: ““It is no secret now that Nigerians hate their rulers; but when Nigerian “prayer warrior” masses now start to curse and pray for the death of their rulers, then there is a crisis. There is always euphoria and jubilation whenever a member of the Nigerian “thiefocratic class” (i.e.; President, Governor, Senator, House of Rep member, Minister or local government chairman) dies. For example, when the plane of Governor Danbaba Suntai’s of Taraba State crashed, i placed a call to several friends i considered somewhat “God-fearing” and decent. The first response i got from each and every one of them is “make them all die, we are praying for the next one to die”. Many Nigerians in recent times have so become accustomed to cursing their rulers that before you have a five-minute discussion on the state of Nigeria with them, they would have cursed the ruling class more than a hundred times. There is now justifiable but unprecedented hatred for the ruling class like never before in the history of Nigeria”.

Without a doubt, once a society degrades to this low point of organized hatred that Paul Omoruyi has described, and with guns and explosives so easy to buy and bear, nothing but revolutionary justice can push it back from the precipice of the abyss into which Nigeria is looking at the moment.

Gunmen free 175 prisoners in Nigeria jailbreak

Gunmen shot dead two civilians and then used explosives to free 175 inmates from a prison in Nigeria's southern town of Akure overnight, a prison official said on Sunday.

Islamist sect Boko Haram and al Qaeda-linked group Ansaru have been behind several prison raids in recent years. It was not clear whether they were behind this jail break at Olokuta prison in Ondo state or whether they had members held there.

"The unknown gunmen numbering over 20 came at about midnight into the Olokuta prison through the main gate after using dynamite," Prison Comptroller Tunde Olayiwola told Reuters.

"The gunmen shot and killed two people while trying to get in ... Some of the escaped prisoners have been re-arrested," Olayiwola said, adding that some prison staff were injured in a gun battle and were receiving treatment.

Violence by Islamist groups is mostly confined to Nigeria's majority Muslim north but there have been attacks as far south as Kogi state, which borders Ondo.

Boko Haram, which wants to create an Islamic state in the north, has become the biggest threat to security in Africa's most populous nation and top oil exporter.

President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency in the three worst affected states in the northeast and launched an intensified military push to end the insurgency.

Nigeria also suffers from widespread crime and corruption nationwide. In southern states such as Ondo, kidnapping and other violent crimes are common.

[Phone Wind]

Boka Haram truce. Rioting in Port Harcourt

The Nigerian government appears to have agreed a truce with Boko Haram, though how long it will hold is difficult to tell.
The announcement was made by Minister of Special Duties Kabiru Turaki, chairman of a presidential committee set up to negotiate with the group. However, as the announcement has only been made by the government sources a number of people have doubts as to its credibility:

"Such an announcement of cessation of violence needs to come from the leader of Boko Haram himself," Clement Nwankwo, executive director of the Abuja-based Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, said, referring to Shekau. "I think that would be much more credible than a statement by a government official."

The government has already said that it will still not lift the state of emefgency declared in the 3 northern states which are the Boko Haram strongholds and Boko Haram has said that the militants would continue attacking young people who co-operate with the security agencies in the fight against the group.

Meanwhile, in Port Harcourt, where the largest number of civilian helicopters in Nigeria is based, there is unrest on the streets in the vicinity of the Rivers State House of Assemble, where troops of the Joint Task Force have had to be called in to assist the police in separating and dispersing rival groups of thugs, one group supporting Governor Rotimi Amaechi and the other, the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, in Port Harcourt. Local newspapers are claiming that many of the rioters are former militants who surrendered under the amnesty announced by the late President Umaru Yar'Adua in 2009.
Amaechi and Jonathan have been embroiled in a bitter power struggle for the past few months which worsened when Amaechi was elected head of the National Governors' Forum grouping Nigeria's 36 states. Jonathan, also from the oil-producing Niger Delta, and his backers have refused to recognize Amaechi because of his open opposition to the president seeking another term in an election scheduled for 2015. Jonathan has not officially declared he will run but his supporters say he will.
Many of Nigeria's governors, and quite a few lawmakers, are in revolt against Jonathan over his expected plan to run, including many within his own People's Democratic Party.

[Peter PanPan]

Atlantic Aviation

Fellow Rotorheads,

What is the latest with Atlantic Aviation? Do they have any contracts yet? Does anyone know whether the C+ on site are the formerly D2 registered ships? Not much on the news since their AOC issuance late 2012. Heard it through the grapevine that CHC Global new hires were likely to end up in PHC, any insiders care to comment? Feel free to PM me. Trying to get a better picture for a buddy of mine who may end up there. Thanks!

[Keke Napep]

Atlantic Aviation

I've not heard any news of Atlantic Aviation getting any contracts yet. From looking at the local newspapers, Addax had a tender out for S76C++s less than 2 years old for a contract in September this year.
All I've seen of the AA aircraft is an ancient S76C+, the former ACN 5N-BCX at Port Harcourt and an AW139 they flew into Snake Island back in April.
I don't think anyone would want those D2 machines . They've been sitting outside with no blade tie-downs, engine blanks or pitot covers since last year and must be in terrible shape by now.

[SASless]

Engine Blanks.....not needed....the Bird Nests work perfectly fine for that purpose!

[Nigerian Expat Outlaw]

Atlantic Aviation

Keke,

Your question is very pertinent, I should think there are quite a few people who would be interested to know what is going on at Snake and NAF with Atlantic.

A couple of seriously big hitters left what appeared to be pretty secure positions in other companies to join them not too long ago.

Cheers,

NEO

[Keke Napep]

NEO,
In Nigeria, big hitters come, big hitters go. Oyibo Companies form relationships with good Nigerian partners, 419 Nigerian partners, Syrian/Lebanese partners masquerading as Nigerian. The Niger carries on flowing, the rain carries on falling, the politicians carry on stealing. For foreign investors it just depends if you have people with savvy investment skills on site or numpties who in their hearts believe the the European/N American business model will work here without modification. In Africa, you can lead a horse to water but you can't stop it being eaten by alligators

[SASless]

Well said Keke!

[Peter PanPan]

Thanks for your input Keke

[Nigerian Expat Outlaw]

Keke,

Absolutely agree, however the big hitters I referred to are Nigerian. AFAIK only one expat (who had been almost universally discredited in his previous position) went to Atlantic and hasn't been heard of since.

Isn't Nigerdock Syrian owned ? I stand to be corrected.

Whatever, always a healthy debate !

Cheers,

NEO

[Keke Napep]

NEO,

Isn't Nigerdock Syrian owned

Hence my earlier mention of Syrian/Lebanese partners

Nigerdock is part of the Jagal group. The Chairman of the Jagal group of companies (which owns Atlantic Aviation) and Nigerdock (which is situated on Snake Island, where CHC now have their base at the old Shell location) is Anwar Jarmakani whose family originates from Syria. Anwar Jarmakani has been in numerous well-publicised property disputes with his brothers and other blood relatives. The company was accused by a Nigerian House of Representatives committee of gun running in 2008.

The founding father of the Jarmakani family in Nigeria was Nayif Jarmakani, who died in 2005 in Beirut. Nayif was born in in Salkhad, Al Sweida, Syria. He went to the American University of Beirut and graduated with a BA in 1957. This was followed by by a period teaching English in Aleppo, Syria and in Kuwait. In the early 1960s, he moved to Nigeria where he started a number of businesses, including transport, construction, and furniture companies. Anwar, also a graduate of the American University Beirut, although the youngest of Nayif Jarmakani's 4 sons, won the battle to control the most profitable of his late father's companies. I hear he has dual Lebanese and Nigerian citizenship as do many of the Lebanese community who have lived in Nigeria for much of their lives.

Thjey do seem strange bedfellows for CHC which is an American company since its purchase by First Reserve. However, I guess that means they did due diligence on Atlantic Aviation before going into partnership with them, and the Jagal group has a lot of good contacts because of all the work Nigerdock does for many of the oil companies here.

[global123]

New AW 139s

Any news about the new AW 139s which are due to come in Nigeria.What about the 2 AW 139s of Nest Oil.Who is going to maintain and operate them..?

[Nigerian Expat Outlaw]

139s

I heard Caverton have just imported another 139 for Total. Small problem, it came with no HFDM mod so although Total may accept it on contract it is the only "non standard" 139 in the Caverton fleet.

No idea if it will be retrofitted.

Cheers,

NEO

[global123]

NEST OIL AW 139

Any news about nest oil AW 139..Like when they will be arriving Nigeria..and by whom it will be maintained and operated.Thanks in advance

[Keke Napep]

Bristow S92 in Port Harcourt off Contract

With Total selling its 20% stake in the Usan offshore field to the Sinopec and Exxon Mobil taking over as the operator they have decided they don't need an S92 so Bristow have an aircraft sitting doing nothing. That must be expensive and if no work is found for it soon it will be no surprise if it leaves for the North Sea. So far no pilots have been laid off, but I guess if they don't get some other work for it soon that could happen. They pilots who were flying it have mostly gone back to flying other types but for sure the bean counters will be looking at that. Bristow has been hiring like crazy this year and lots of talk about more and more new helicopters coming in, but maybe the bubble is about to burst and some of the other operators will get a bigger share of the work.

The Addax contract is up for grabs next month and the tender document was recently in many Nigerian newspapers. It'll be an interesting look into what may happen in the future if Bristow keeps or loses that contract. Caverton are obviously pushing for it, but with CHC back in Nigeria with a partner like NigerDock and Aero still hanging on and desperate for work Bristow will find it increasingly difficult to keep its huge slice of the pie.

[unstable load]

gloal123,
A birdie told me that the Nest Oil 139's will be maintained by Aero.

NEO,
The new Caverton 139 is operating right now, so all looks OK for now....