What's New In W. Africa (Nigeria)
I Try To Be Good !!
Join Date: May 2006
Location: The World Is My Oyster
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Methinks You Are Mistaken ??
Trog,
NEO is due back next week, he's got another 10 days or so. Is he coming back to a business unit that he's still got generators to sell in ?
If things keep on like this nobody will be here to operate the changeover switch !
NEO is due back next week, he's got another 10 days or so. Is he coming back to a business unit that he's still got generators to sell in ?
If things keep on like this nobody will be here to operate the changeover switch !
Join Date: Apr 2008
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GMIA - methinks you might be mistaken!
Or NEO is telling porkies and claiming his CLA whilst sunning himself on the beaches of Essex or further South now he's become posh!
Alouette - have you tried Heli Malongo?
Loaded question - they always ask for references! - Don't panic - it was very good - I'll claim gulders later.
GMIA - we all seem to becoming a tad paranoid - was it any better in the 80's when we either communicated by letter or if it was really urgent via Portishead Radio pretending we were in a King Air?
Trog
Alouette - have you tried Heli Malongo?
Loaded question - they always ask for references! - Don't panic - it was very good - I'll claim gulders later.
GMIA - we all seem to becoming a tad paranoid - was it any better in the 80's when we either communicated by letter or if it was really urgent via Portishead Radio pretending we were in a King Air?
Trog
Join Date: Apr 2008
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COBI?
Alouette,
A few Gulders a day are even provided by Chevron in some places! Do you declare yours to the "Holier than thou crowd" on a daily basis?
Don't make the move - you are too valuable where you are!
Going back into REAL Chevron Land with the "soul sellers" is in my opinion a fate that you don't deserve.
Trog
A few Gulders a day are even provided by Chevron in some places! Do you declare yours to the "Holier than thou crowd" on a daily basis?
Don't make the move - you are too valuable where you are!
Going back into REAL Chevron Land with the "soul sellers" is in my opinion a fate that you don't deserve.
Trog
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Marge, beer me!!!
Ahh...yes, the Gulder. what a wonderfully legal drug. In particular the formaldehyde which preserves this holy crowd in the humid depths of the Niger Delta
Join Date: Apr 2008
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Believe it or mock at your Peril!
Gulder or its' predecessors Skol. 33, Harp etc. etc. have protected many a "Good Man in Africa" (GMIA - generic only - no slur or personal criticism or comment intended!) from the ravages of the Dark Continent.
Trog
Trog
Gulder and other preservatives
Join Date: Dec 2003
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8 Bonny Captives Released
The 8 expatriate Russian, Latvian etc., who were abducted from the LPG tanker in the Bonny River have now been released unharmed.
Trog,
Haven't seen Tree, tree, for many years now - do they still sell it in your area? Many happy memories of NEO and others checking out the flying properties of empty 33 containers when subject to the iron will of fans in Bristow number 17's in Warri. Who still remembers the visit of the Invisible Man in a blood-soaked bandage to Auntie's Kitchen?
Trog,
Haven't seen Tree, tree, for many years now - do they still sell it in your area? Many happy memories of NEO and others checking out the flying properties of empty 33 containers when subject to the iron will of fans in Bristow number 17's in Warri. Who still remembers the visit of the Invisible Man in a blood-soaked bandage to Auntie's Kitchen?
I Try To Be Good !!
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Trog, maybe we are thinking of different people for NEO ? Maybe we are both wrong !! 
Paranoia is the order of the day. The way the former CP was disposed of and the witch hunting tactics used to get him have got everyone wondering who will be the next victim of an upset emailer.
Paranoia is the order of the day. The way the former CP was disposed of and the witch hunting tactics used to get him have got everyone wondering who will be the next victim of an upset emailer.
Join Date: Apr 2008
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GMIA You are unfortunately correct.
Beware of wide eyed fresh faced zealot lawyers from the "Belt" with the 1000 yard stare. "We know what is best for you!" as a watchword.
They make Osama bin Laden look like a liberal!
Mind you - what do expect from a Country where in some places you still have to drive over several County lines to buy something stronger than a Bud.
The Land of the free?
They make Osama bin Laden look like a liberal!
Mind you - what do expect from a Country where in some places you still have to drive over several County lines to buy something stronger than a Bud.
The Land of the free?
Join Date: Jul 2006
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Be Careful Around Abonnema and Degema
Reuters has been reporting some heavy fighting in the Abonnema and Degema area according to Reuters. As this is a Port Harcourt zone exit point it would be prudent to fly a bit higher or route off track for a few days:
30 Jul 2008 09:13:01 GMT
Source: Reuters
PORT HARCOURT, July 30 (Reuters) - Rival militant factions in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta have clashed in an apparent turf war, killing at least one soldier from an army unit sent to intervene, a military spokesman said on Wednesday.
The fighting started late on Tuesday at Abonnema, around 14 km (9 miles) west of the main oil industry city of Port Harcourt, military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Sagir Musa said.
"We deployed our men to the area. Unfortunately our men were ambushed by the militants and there was heavy exchange of gunfire ... We lost one soldier and killed two militants in the ensuing battle," he said.
The fighting underscores the deteriorating security situation in the delta, the heartland of Nigeria's 2 million barrels per day oil industry, where militants have been blowing up pipelines and criminal gangs kidnapping people for ransom.
"It is just getting messier. It looks like there is a rupture developing between the main protagonists," one private security contractor working in the world's eighth biggest crude oil exporter said. (Reporting by Austin Ekeinde; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Catherine Evans) (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: Breaking News, Business, Financial & Investing News, Commodities & More | Africa.reuters.com )
Source: Reuters
PORT HARCOURT, July 30 (Reuters) - Rival militant factions in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta have clashed in an apparent turf war, killing at least one soldier from an army unit sent to intervene, a military spokesman said on Wednesday.
The fighting started late on Tuesday at Abonnema, around 14 km (9 miles) west of the main oil industry city of Port Harcourt, military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Sagir Musa said.
"We deployed our men to the area. Unfortunately our men were ambushed by the militants and there was heavy exchange of gunfire ... We lost one soldier and killed two militants in the ensuing battle," he said.
The fighting underscores the deteriorating security situation in the delta, the heartland of Nigeria's 2 million barrels per day oil industry, where militants have been blowing up pipelines and criminal gangs kidnapping people for ransom.
"It is just getting messier. It looks like there is a rupture developing between the main protagonists," one private security contractor working in the world's eighth biggest crude oil exporter said. (Reporting by Austin Ekeinde; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Catherine Evans) (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: Breaking News, Business, Financial & Investing News, Commodities & More | Africa.reuters.com )
Join Date: Jun 2007
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Skyhawk 35 was bashing around Soku yesterday as well, probably the bigger threat.
Unfortunately, if we avoid all the places the militants are shooting at the military, we'd have to close the doors and go home.
Unfortunately, if we avoid all the places the militants are shooting at the military, we'd have to close the doors and go home.
Join Date: Jun 2007
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The warrants a seperate post:
Can anyone give me some insight into Heli-Malongo? I've tried an internet search and got nothing of use.
Sorry, finally figured out the Pprune search function (bloody luddite!)
Can anyone give me some insight into Heli-Malongo? I've tried an internet search and got nothing of use.
Sorry, finally figured out the Pprune search function (bloody luddite!)
Join Date: Jul 2008
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St Peter Port and Eket - Twin towns?
I wonder how many of us are fed up with being kept in the dark or just plain lied to by rubbish so-called management who couldn't manage to leave their comfortable offices and get out into those nasty, sweaty, dangerous swamps more than once a year. How many of us are sick at the constant stream of meaningless new initiatives which seem designed to make work for a bunch of idle, useless HR or QA leeches and just waste our time 
Talking of useless, self-important, bloated leeches has anybody in Bristow read the so-called Newsletter from Randy Organ . half a page taken up with big writing telling us the company name change just in case we can't read small writing 
More than half a page with a photograph of the leering lump, of an ex-rugby plump forward, looking like Toad of Toad Hall in a shirt and explaining how an undistinguished 32 year career as an RAF storeman made him superbly qualified to be the HR damager of BIAGL 
As for the garbage about how the friendly HR team will answer your e-mails very rapidly, I suppose 6 - 8 months is what passes for rapid in the storeman's world . He's probably too busy writing his newsletter which looks as if it was produced by a schoolboy as a 3rd grade computer publishing project. Still, I'm sure that now he's recruited an assistant to help him do his work (for that read someone to do all the graft while he writes more issues of the Newsletter and visits the many delightful harbour-side bars almost visible in the charming photo of Glategny Esplanade for a long lunch. I'm sure those dregs sitting in Darrells or Escravos are delighted to know that the island enjoys a vibrant society with top class restaurants and entertainment, just like Eket . Still, you can sympathise with the poor lamb when you realise that life on this charming island can also get pretty rough when you hear that it only needs a strong wind or a foggy day and there are no newspapers or letters and shows how cut off we really are. Rough seas in the winter frequently means little or no fresh food from the mainland for days. It makes you realise how lucky you are to be living in the 5 star luxury of a hotel like Darrells with daily mail deliveries, a copy of The Punch outside your luxury suite every morning and delicious fresh international candle-lit dinners in the superb restaurant compare with poor Randy's sad life on this small island. The similarities continue when you realise that Victor Hugo wrote much of his celebrated ‘Les Miserables’ whilst living in Guernsey (admittedly in exile). However, these days the majority of French visitors we get tend to be Yachtsmen. After all, Darrellsdregs wrote much of his celebrated 'The Glums' whilst living in Eket (admittedly in exile) and the majority of the visitors we get tend to be terrorists or night fighters 
. But, amazingly the similarity with Guernsey continues because most of the terrorist visitors tend to be yachtsmen, with boats ready and waiting to take their hostages off to enjoy the hospitality of the quaint villages which they inhabit in the many creeks of this beautiful region.
Never mind, once Agbami is awarded and the delayed pay review is announced, there will be queues of pilots and engineers waiting to come to our charming little operations, so conveniently located to the swamps and other African tourist delights
What delights await those who arrive. Excellent Nigerian medical facilities will soon soothe those aching backs brought on by up to 9 hours a day in the anatomically designed Bell 412 or Bell 407 seats which we've been slumped in for up to 9 hours a day. Once Agbami has been announced, storemen (just like what Randy used to be) will have more than enough stores to keep the old, poorly equipped, bone-shakers like the 76A++, 412 and 332s flying without pilots and engineers being threatened if they dare to enter snags in technical logs or refuse to fly them just because they're not really serviceable. No, of course that can't really happen can it? After all, we're now all target Zero and COBI compliant
Can I have the address of Heli Malongo as well please - I'd like to go somewhere a bit less like Guernsey and not have to be forced to read Randy's Ramblings. Oh wait a minute, I almost forgot, I already decided to go - I'm out of here soon
. No more candle-lit dinners at Darrells, no more scenic drives to work taking in the breathtaking beauty and wildlife of the swamps, no more Gulder , no more arguments about CLA. It sounds so good, maybe I should just hang on until Deboys announce the new pay review and all the benefits of Agbami flood in 
Talking of useless, self-important, bloated leeches has anybody in Bristow read the so-called Newsletter from Randy Organ . half a page taken up with big writing telling us the company name change just in case we can't read small writing More than half a page with a photograph of the leering lump, of an ex-rugby plump forward, looking like Toad of Toad Hall in a shirt and explaining how an undistinguished 32 year career as an RAF storeman made him superbly qualified to be the HR damager of BIAGL As for the garbage about how the friendly HR team will answer your e-mails very rapidly, I suppose 6 - 8 months is what passes for rapid in the storeman's world . He's probably too busy writing his newsletter which looks as if it was produced by a schoolboy as a 3rd grade computer publishing project. Still, I'm sure that now he's recruited an assistant to help him do his work (for that read someone to do all the graft while he writes more issues of the Newsletter and visits the many delightful harbour-side bars almost visible in the charming photo of Glategny Esplanade for a long lunch. I'm sure those dregs sitting in Darrells or Escravos are delighted to know that the island enjoys a vibrant society with top class restaurants and entertainment, just like Eket . Still, you can sympathise with the poor lamb when you realise that life on this charming island can also get pretty rough when you hear that it only needs a strong wind or a foggy day and there are no newspapers or letters and shows how cut off we really are. Rough seas in the winter frequently means little or no fresh food from the mainland for days. It makes you realise how lucky you are to be living in the 5 star luxury of a hotel like Darrells with daily mail deliveries, a copy of The Punch outside your luxury suite every morning and delicious fresh international candle-lit dinners in the superb restaurant compare with poor Randy's sad life on this small island. The similarities continue when you realise that Victor Hugo wrote much of his celebrated ‘Les Miserables’ whilst living in Guernsey (admittedly in exile). However, these days the majority of French visitors we get tend to be Yachtsmen. After all, Darrellsdregs wrote much of his celebrated 'The Glums' whilst living in Eket (admittedly in exile) and the majority of the visitors we get tend to be terrorists or night fighters . But, amazingly the similarity with Guernsey continues because most of the terrorist visitors tend to be yachtsmen, with boats ready and waiting to take their hostages off to enjoy the hospitality of the quaint villages which they inhabit in the many creeks of this beautiful region.Never mind, once Agbami is awarded and the delayed pay review is announced, there will be queues of pilots and engineers waiting to come to our charming little operations, so conveniently located to the swamps and other African tourist delights
What delights await those who arrive. Excellent Nigerian medical facilities will soon soothe those aching backs brought on by up to 9 hours a day in the anatomically designed Bell 412 or Bell 407 seats which we've been slumped in for up to 9 hours a day. Once Agbami has been announced, storemen (just like what Randy used to be) will have more than enough stores to keep the old, poorly equipped, bone-shakers like the 76A++, 412 and 332s flying without pilots and engineers being threatened if they dare to enter snags in technical logs or refuse to fly them just because they're not really serviceable. No, of course that can't really happen can it? After all, we're now all target Zero and COBI compliant
Can I have the address of Heli Malongo as well please - I'd like to go somewhere a bit less like Guernsey and not have to be forced to read Randy's Ramblings. Oh wait a minute, I almost forgot, I already decided to go - I'm out of here soon
. No more candle-lit dinners at Darrells, no more scenic drives to work taking in the breathtaking beauty and wildlife of the swamps, no more Gulder , no more arguments about CLA. It sounds so good, maybe I should just hang on until Deboys announce the new pay review and all the benefits of Agbami flood in
Join Date: Dec 2004
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bbo,
It seems you really like the new Bristow newsletter then. You have Randy Organ, we had the likes of the Shadow and Ian Pilchards and the female Doberman with a wasp in her mouth and a personal hygiene problem, but now they've gone. Mind you, we still have Kent Clark and the Sea Cucumber . our former boss, who did more than anyone to raise standards here (though he made a lot of enemies on the way) has now had a clash of the titans with BC and departed 
. However it's only a matter of time before Smeg, Braid and the other grease from the old boys and (alleged) girls club get their just deserts and in a Gibbon's fashion disappear from view in the decline and fall of the Dobbin empire. Our EC225s are still held captive in France and things here are spiralling anti-clockwise down the plug. It seems that Nigeria is being overtaken by Angola, but there's a lack of information out here as to what's really available in that country. Are there no Pruners in that country with internet access and English language ready to spill the beans as to what's likely to be on offer there in the next year or two? Their companies should know that there is a large pool of pilots experienced in offshore West Africa who are waiting to leave and experience the delights of Luanda or wherever as long as it's not Nigeria and neither CHC or Bristow
It seems you really like the new Bristow newsletter then
. You have Randy Organ, we had the likes of the Shadow and Ian Pilchards and the female Doberman with a wasp in her mouth and a personal hygiene problem, but now they've gone. Mind you, we still have Kent Clark and the Sea Cucumber . our former boss, who did more than anyone to raise standards here (though he made a lot of enemies on the way) has now had a clash of the titans with BC and departed . However it's only a matter of time before Smeg, Braid and the other grease from the old boys and (alleged) girls club get their just deserts and in a Gibbon's fashion disappear from view in the decline and fall of the Dobbin empire. Our EC225s are still held captive in France and things here are spiralling anti-clockwise down the plug. It seems that Nigeria is being overtaken by Angola, but there's a lack of information out here as to what's really available in that country. Are there no Pruners in that country with internet access and English language ready to spill the beans as to what's likely to be on offer there in the next year or two? Their companies should know that there is a large pool of pilots experienced in offshore West Africa who are waiting to leave and experience the delights of Luanda or wherever as long as it's not Nigeria and neither CHC or Bristow
Join Date: Dec 2006
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etienne m' boy
As far as Angola goes, you already work for one of the companies operating there
and Heli Malongo is the other one.
Contact your scheduler and put in for a post there like the rest of us, then take a ticket and join the queue, like the rest of us....
As far as Angola goes, you already work for one of the companies operating there
and Heli Malongo is the other one. Contact your scheduler and put in for a post there like the rest of us, then take a ticket and join the queue, like the rest of us....
Nigerian In Law
Never been there but I reckon St Peter Port is probably a bit of a s**thole mate. Beer is expensive, fags cost the same for a packet as people in Nigeria pay for a roll and as far as I know there aren't too many nightfighters willing to put out for a tenner a night. Not that I go for that myself these days. 
But still, give me Nigeria anytime.
At the end of the day it's a free world after all, people can choose to go wherever they want and yet many still choose to work in Nigeria. Why ? Another of life's mysteries.
NEO
But still, give me Nigeria anytime.At the end of the day it's a free world after all, people can choose to go wherever they want and yet many still choose to work in Nigeria. Why ? Another of life's mysteries.
NEO
Join Date: Dec 2004
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Port Harcourt a Dangerous Place Saturday 2 July
There has been a lot of fighting, as previously reported, in the area of Abonemma/Degema and now there are reports this morning of ongoing shooting in and around the Town/Creek Road/Aggrey/Borokiri areas of Port Harcourt. Okrika,home to Ateke Tom is also dangerous at present. The fighting involved boys from Soboma George's 'The Outlaws' versus Commander Igberi Papa/Farah Dagogo of the 'Niger Delta Strike Force' who are reported to have engaged Police and JTF in an attempt to storm Police HQ on Moscow Road and possibly Govt. House. The gang came in speedboats through the waterfront and later withdrew after engagement with JTF. The death toll is supposed to have been high, though it's unlikely we'll ever get any accurate figures. The unsafe areas of town, where you're advised not to go for now are basically any of the areas south of Garrison Junction toward Old GRA and down to Mile 1 on Ikwerre Road. I hope that the fighting is contained by the JTF as last year there were even some sporadic attacks up toward Eleme Junction. If you don't need to go out, stay in your compound until things calm down.
UL, that's fine if you're an expatriate aged under 60, for nationals it's not an option. You guys can get out any time you like and go to any other CHC operation. CHC send pilots and engineers here from Thailand, Filipines and numerous other countries, but I don't see them offering many Nigerians the chance to go and fly in Canada, Thailand or the numerous other CHC Global operations do you?
UL, that's fine if you're an expatriate aged under 60, for nationals it's not an option. You guys can get out any time you like and go to any other CHC operation. CHC send pilots and engineers here from Thailand, Filipines and numerous other countries, but I don't see them offering many Nigerians the chance to go and fly in Canada, Thailand or the numerous other CHC Global operations do you?
Join Date: Jun 2007
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Etienne T Boy
1. One can get out any time one likes if one is willing to quit. Otherwise, it is at the discretion of management and their whims of infinite judgement and knowledge. Seems we are all needed here.
2. The Thai gentlemen applied to CHC Global, left Thai Aviation Serv, and now tours. The National Pilots do not work for CHC, as Aero has made abundantly clear.
Not particlarly trying to stir up 5hit but rather clarifying the differences. The contracts, employers, pay, benefits and terms are all different. Unstable assumed from your interest in Angola that you were touring. The option is there, but with a change of employer.
Cheers, and fly safe out there.
1. One can get out any time one likes if one is willing to quit. Otherwise, it is at the discretion of management and their whims of infinite judgement and knowledge. Seems we are all needed here.
2. The Thai gentlemen applied to CHC Global, left Thai Aviation Serv, and now tours. The National Pilots do not work for CHC, as Aero has made abundantly clear.
Not particlarly trying to stir up 5hit but rather clarifying the differences. The contracts, employers, pay, benefits and terms are all different. Unstable assumed from your interest in Angola that you were touring. The option is there, but with a change of employer.
Cheers, and fly safe out there.