chc nigeria
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Sunny Niger
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
chc nigeria
hi there
i might be travelling to nigeria port harcout, does anyone worked or working with chc there??? any information will be helpfull...
thk you in advance
i might be travelling to nigeria port harcout, does anyone worked or working with chc there??? any information will be helpfull...
thk you in advance
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Here and there...
Age: 58
Posts: 854
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I spent over 6 years there, but to be fair, left almost 3 years ago before things got really unpleasent there.
I found the place (Nigeria) to be really hard work from the point of view of dealing with the nationals. The police are corrupt to the core and will try their luck as often as they can, and the guys you work (both nationals and expats) with will with some exceptions be more interested in dropping you in the 5h1t and playing politics than fixing/ flying helicopters.
Bear in mind also that the comments you will read/hear are often from the point of view of guys that are unhappy, insecure etc with their lot and thus will be rather alarmist/negative.
I know there are issues with the proposed new accomodation in PH but it was too long ago that I was in PH to remember where it is and the exact issues are as such unknown to me aside from what I have read in this forum.
Like Bravo73 says though,
BEST OF LUCK old son, you will need a large dose of patience, thick rose tinted spectacles and a well developed sense of humour if you want to avoid being ground up by the mill and spat out.
My advice will be to stay out of the various factions and groups and don't get sucked into the different arguments until you have seen the various points of view for yourself and made up your own mind.
You could actually enjoy it there, but it takes a lot out of you if you let it get to you.
I found the place (Nigeria) to be really hard work from the point of view of dealing with the nationals. The police are corrupt to the core and will try their luck as often as they can, and the guys you work (both nationals and expats) with will with some exceptions be more interested in dropping you in the 5h1t and playing politics than fixing/ flying helicopters.
Bear in mind also that the comments you will read/hear are often from the point of view of guys that are unhappy, insecure etc with their lot and thus will be rather alarmist/negative.
I know there are issues with the proposed new accomodation in PH but it was too long ago that I was in PH to remember where it is and the exact issues are as such unknown to me aside from what I have read in this forum.
Like Bravo73 says though,
BEST OF LUCK old son, you will need a large dose of patience, thick rose tinted spectacles and a well developed sense of humour if you want to avoid being ground up by the mill and spat out.
My advice will be to stay out of the various factions and groups and don't get sucked into the different arguments until you have seen the various points of view for yourself and made up your own mind.
You could actually enjoy it there, but it takes a lot out of you if you let it get to you.
I would suggest an analysis of the money offered as compared to the lifestyle, risk, and working conditions is the correct way to arrive at a decision.
If the compensation in money and respect by the operator is appropriate for the situation then by all means stick your neck out for a couple of years.
The sad thing is someone new to Nigeria, new to the aircraft, and new to offshore flying is a burden rather than an asset if working in Nigeria.
Because of the nature of the job in Port Harcourt....new guys will have a very stressful time.
Accept the fact you will have no social life of any value for the six weeks you are working, you will be confronted with traffic jams like you have never dreamed of, the flying will at times be very stressful due to the lack of real ATC and multiple layers of "ATC" that require talking to only to give them pax numbers....and most times of the year, some very challenging weather due to the Monsoon rains or the Harmataan dust haze. Weather reporting is a bad joke, ATC is a farce, and now you have a real threat of being hijacked, kidnapped, or worse due to the growing insurgency.
Back to the original question.....are you being offered enough money for all of this?
If the compensation in money and respect by the operator is appropriate for the situation then by all means stick your neck out for a couple of years.
The sad thing is someone new to Nigeria, new to the aircraft, and new to offshore flying is a burden rather than an asset if working in Nigeria.
Because of the nature of the job in Port Harcourt....new guys will have a very stressful time.
Accept the fact you will have no social life of any value for the six weeks you are working, you will be confronted with traffic jams like you have never dreamed of, the flying will at times be very stressful due to the lack of real ATC and multiple layers of "ATC" that require talking to only to give them pax numbers....and most times of the year, some very challenging weather due to the Monsoon rains or the Harmataan dust haze. Weather reporting is a bad joke, ATC is a farce, and now you have a real threat of being hijacked, kidnapped, or worse due to the growing insurgency.
Back to the original question.....are you being offered enough money for all of this?
After arriving in Lagos in the middle of the night, and you've left the relative "safety" of the airport and you're en-route to your overnight accommodation, driving through the back streets because the driver knows a quicker way (of course!), don't be surprised to be waved down to stop in the very dark of night by a small group of unidentifiable very dark people carrying very dark and dangerous looking AK47's. The question going through your drivers mind is, is this a legitimate police road block (and stop), or are they some ruthless thugs expecting an easy picking (so keep going, faster!)? Do you trust the driver with your life to make the correct decision? If he stops and they're not cops you get whacked, and if they are cops but he guesses they are just some friendly locals on a good night out so keeps going, you get whacked.
Life hangs in the balance with a decision made in an instant by someone else.
This is one of my first memorable experiences of working in Nigeria, of course there are plenty of others. If you're considering going to Nigeria then get street wise, and quick, your life might just depend on it. You also need to ask yourself, are you street wise enough, and is it worth it?
Life hangs in the balance with a decision made in an instant by someone else.
This is one of my first memorable experiences of working in Nigeria, of course there are plenty of others. If you're considering going to Nigeria then get street wise, and quick, your life might just depend on it. You also need to ask yourself, are you street wise enough, and is it worth it?
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Alaska
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Your personal safety is at risk!! Do you have a family? Are you being adequately compensated for risk that you are taking? At this moment in the history of Nigeria you are actually making a potential life or death decision regarding employment in Nigeria. The entire country could very well explode in violence within the year....
Think long and hard about this....
Think long and hard about this....
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Lost and Legless somewhere in LaLaLand
Age: 77
Posts: 481
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The Growing Power of Nigeria's Gangs
seaking283,
Here's a taste of the place you're coming to. It's from a BBC reporter who recently managed to get an interview with Soboma George, the militant who was freed from the police cells by 60 armed militants a few weeks ago:
You're due to arrive at a somewhat trying time so do heed the advice here, be careful and always watch your back and those of your colleagues. If you can get through the next few months, you'll really be able to call yourself an old Nigeria hand even after a short time here 
Here's a taste of the place you're coming to. It's from a BBC reporter who recently managed to get an interview with Soboma George, the militant who was freed from the police cells by 60 armed militants a few weeks ago:
As Nigeria prepares for April's general elections, fears are growing about the rise of armed gangs in the oil-rich Niger Delta.
The BBC's Alex Last braves the slums of Port Harcourt to find powerful militant commander Soboma George, who tells him that they, not the politicians, will be calling the shots.
Around eight o'clock at night, a car with blacked out windows pulled up near the hotel - our escort to meet Soboma George, once described as one of the most powerful gang leaders in the rundown oil city of Port Harcourt.
A city where kidnappings, crime and militancy have spiralled out of control - where foreign oil workers live almost under siege in their compounds. A city in the heart of the Niger Delta, where decades of poverty and neglect have left anger and violence.
Soboma George hit the headlines recently when some 60 militants wielding heavy machine guns marched through the centre of the city, fought off the police and the army, and retrieved him from a police station.
The main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which is demanding greater local control of the oil wealth, claimed responsibility, announcing for the first time that Soboma was one of its senior commanders in the city.
He had been detained for a traffic violation, the police simply didn't recognise him. One officer said privately that, if they had, they wouldn't have dared to hold him.
Broken promises
Police say Soboma George first became known not as a political militant, but as a powerful member of an all-male gang called the Icelanders. Its membership is said to number in the thousands and it's just one of several gangs or "confraternities" - with names like the KKK, Greenlanders and Vikings, that operate in the city and further afield.
In the last elections in 2003 these gangs were hired and armed by politicians to fight their political opponents, steal ballot boxes, and generally rig the vote. As one local resident said: "it was less of an election, more of a low-intensity armed struggle." In Nigeria and particularly in the Delta, political office means access to the huge oil revenues - so the stakes are high.
After the elections, the politicians' promises of jobs for gang members often failed to materialise. But the gangs had been given weapons, and had grown stronger. Over the years, some moved into the creeks of the Delta. Some factionalised. Some stayed put in the cities, where the police say they are involved in criminal rackets. At times they all fought each other.
On the whole, they remained largely separate from the more political militant groups, like the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta which emerged in 2006, though sometimes the line has blurred.
Nigeria goes to the polls again in April. Everyone says the politicians are looking for armed support, except for the politicians themselves. In this climate, the gangs seem to operate with impunity.
'Conniving and colluding'
In Port Harcourt, kidnappings of foreigners have reached new levels. Most are carried out by armed gangs demanding a ransom - and it's becoming a booming business.
The military says that ultimately the solution to the violence is political - and says both it and the federal government are trying to have dialogue with all sides to calm the situation.
But clearly the political will to find a solution is compromised by politicians' links to the gangs. Brig Gen Samuel Salihu , a senior commander in the Delta told me: "There are some in the political elite who are criminalising, conniving and colluding. It makes my job difficult."
Patrick Naagbanton, a researcher and activist in the Delta is more forthright: "With these elections, with a lot of guns around I am very concerned. These gangs are here, they will be hired by desperate politicians who want to win elections at all costs. These politicians are not democrats, they are just interested in getting political power so they have access to loot more state funds."
We drove to a township on the edge of the city. It was late, but still hot and humid. We drank beer as we waited to meet Soboma George.
Then we were led through a maze of run-down shacks, and dusty narrow alleys to a patch of waste ground near a creek. Soboma George bounded out of the darkness to meet us. Wearing a sleeveless black T-shirt emblazoned with the Statue of Liberty and a woolly hat, he looked young and fit.
Tables turned
He sat on a unfinished brick wall, occasionally slapping a mosquito as cicadas chirped all around. He refused to talk about the gang , the Icelanders, saying he was simply a guy who was well-liked, and that as a Niger Delta man he did of course support those fighting for local resource control and development for the Delta.
He said he expected the politicians to try to use the armed gangs in the elections as they had in the past. But, he said, this time the gangs had become powerful enough to use the politicians. I asked him if he thought the violence would be as bad as 2003.
"Bloodier," he said, "if the person we want is not the right person there. This time around it's we who will say this person is good, this person can work."
He said they wanted someone who would actually address the widespread poverty and unemployment. "If you feed a lion he won't bite, if you don't feed a lion, the lion will be hungry and he will be angry. "
The more political militants traditionally have their strongholds among the forested creeks and waterways, which weave through the delta, an area about the size of Scotland. Terrain where the military is ill-equipped to operate. Local activists say the sophisticated, billion-dollar business of smuggling crude oil, known as bunkering, provides many militants with money to buy more powerful weapons.
Now, they say they want to extend their influence into the cities. Hence, the need to recruit a city-based commander like Soboma.
The last election in Nigeria accelerated the development of armed gangs in the Delta. The groups moved one stage further away from control. Many are now wondering what will happen when the armed class of 2007 finally graduates.
The BBC's Alex Last braves the slums of Port Harcourt to find powerful militant commander Soboma George, who tells him that they, not the politicians, will be calling the shots.
Around eight o'clock at night, a car with blacked out windows pulled up near the hotel - our escort to meet Soboma George, once described as one of the most powerful gang leaders in the rundown oil city of Port Harcourt.
A city where kidnappings, crime and militancy have spiralled out of control - where foreign oil workers live almost under siege in their compounds. A city in the heart of the Niger Delta, where decades of poverty and neglect have left anger and violence.
Soboma George hit the headlines recently when some 60 militants wielding heavy machine guns marched through the centre of the city, fought off the police and the army, and retrieved him from a police station.
The main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which is demanding greater local control of the oil wealth, claimed responsibility, announcing for the first time that Soboma was one of its senior commanders in the city.
He had been detained for a traffic violation, the police simply didn't recognise him. One officer said privately that, if they had, they wouldn't have dared to hold him.
Broken promises
Police say Soboma George first became known not as a political militant, but as a powerful member of an all-male gang called the Icelanders. Its membership is said to number in the thousands and it's just one of several gangs or "confraternities" - with names like the KKK, Greenlanders and Vikings, that operate in the city and further afield.
In the last elections in 2003 these gangs were hired and armed by politicians to fight their political opponents, steal ballot boxes, and generally rig the vote. As one local resident said: "it was less of an election, more of a low-intensity armed struggle." In Nigeria and particularly in the Delta, political office means access to the huge oil revenues - so the stakes are high.
After the elections, the politicians' promises of jobs for gang members often failed to materialise. But the gangs had been given weapons, and had grown stronger. Over the years, some moved into the creeks of the Delta. Some factionalised. Some stayed put in the cities, where the police say they are involved in criminal rackets. At times they all fought each other.
On the whole, they remained largely separate from the more political militant groups, like the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta which emerged in 2006, though sometimes the line has blurred.
Nigeria goes to the polls again in April. Everyone says the politicians are looking for armed support, except for the politicians themselves. In this climate, the gangs seem to operate with impunity.
'Conniving and colluding'
In Port Harcourt, kidnappings of foreigners have reached new levels. Most are carried out by armed gangs demanding a ransom - and it's becoming a booming business.
The military says that ultimately the solution to the violence is political - and says both it and the federal government are trying to have dialogue with all sides to calm the situation.
But clearly the political will to find a solution is compromised by politicians' links to the gangs. Brig Gen Samuel Salihu , a senior commander in the Delta told me: "There are some in the political elite who are criminalising, conniving and colluding. It makes my job difficult."
Patrick Naagbanton, a researcher and activist in the Delta is more forthright: "With these elections, with a lot of guns around I am very concerned. These gangs are here, they will be hired by desperate politicians who want to win elections at all costs. These politicians are not democrats, they are just interested in getting political power so they have access to loot more state funds."
We drove to a township on the edge of the city. It was late, but still hot and humid. We drank beer as we waited to meet Soboma George.
Then we were led through a maze of run-down shacks, and dusty narrow alleys to a patch of waste ground near a creek. Soboma George bounded out of the darkness to meet us. Wearing a sleeveless black T-shirt emblazoned with the Statue of Liberty and a woolly hat, he looked young and fit.
Tables turned
He sat on a unfinished brick wall, occasionally slapping a mosquito as cicadas chirped all around. He refused to talk about the gang , the Icelanders, saying he was simply a guy who was well-liked, and that as a Niger Delta man he did of course support those fighting for local resource control and development for the Delta.
He said he expected the politicians to try to use the armed gangs in the elections as they had in the past. But, he said, this time the gangs had become powerful enough to use the politicians. I asked him if he thought the violence would be as bad as 2003.
"Bloodier," he said, "if the person we want is not the right person there. This time around it's we who will say this person is good, this person can work."
He said they wanted someone who would actually address the widespread poverty and unemployment. "If you feed a lion he won't bite, if you don't feed a lion, the lion will be hungry and he will be angry. "
The more political militants traditionally have their strongholds among the forested creeks and waterways, which weave through the delta, an area about the size of Scotland. Terrain where the military is ill-equipped to operate. Local activists say the sophisticated, billion-dollar business of smuggling crude oil, known as bunkering, provides many militants with money to buy more powerful weapons.
Now, they say they want to extend their influence into the cities. Hence, the need to recruit a city-based commander like Soboma.
The last election in Nigeria accelerated the development of armed gangs in the Delta. The groups moved one stage further away from control. Many are now wondering what will happen when the armed class of 2007 finally graduates.
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: AFRICA
Posts: 153
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Make sure that they know in Lagos that you are arriving
A driver should be waiting for you, just wait outside the door of the airport and wait don't go anywhere.
The driver will recognize as a newcomer.
Ask to see his company ID card. Follow him to the parking, he will drive you to the staffhouse.
good luck
If you want more informations PM me
A driver should be waiting for you, just wait outside the door of the airport and wait don't go anywhere.
The driver will recognize as a newcomer.
Ask to see his company ID card. Follow him to the parking, he will drive you to the staffhouse.
good luck
If you want more informations PM me
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Sunny Niger
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
port harcourt
thank you for replying, really i apreciate all the help thats been given to me through this site,,, is it that bad there, i know that theres opinions... im really thinking about of going there after all what im reading.... looks like worst than irak
...
thank you very much
Regards
...thank you very much
Regards
Hit this link for a very good discussion of the problems going on in the Delta area of Nigeria.....and see if that outlines the situation for you.
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/nigeria1103/index.htm
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/nigeria1103/index.htm
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: AFRICA
Posts: 153
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Port Harcourt and Nigeria
Go and have a look at http://www.oyibosonline.com/
The best site about the present situation
You need to register to have access to the security forum
Thanks to CHIEF and those helping
The best site about the present situation
You need to register to have access to the security forum
Thanks to CHIEF and those helping
As a noooby, on my first tour in PHC, I'm enjoying it. Accommodation is adequate, wireless internet in all the houses, food is good, and the people are great.
Met by company driver outside Lagos airport. Transported to staffhouse, shown around Lagos operation, flown to PHC, taken to Areta compound and settled in, then off to start work.
Traffic is hideous, and corruption is rife. But I have found it to be not as bad as other places I've worked, and not as bad as the doom and gloom here would suggest. Paradise it ain't, but it sure as hell isn't Iraq either!!!
Met by company driver outside Lagos airport. Transported to staffhouse, shown around Lagos operation, flown to PHC, taken to Areta compound and settled in, then off to start work.
Traffic is hideous, and corruption is rife. But I have found it to be not as bad as other places I've worked, and not as bad as the doom and gloom here would suggest. Paradise it ain't, but it sure as hell isn't Iraq either!!!
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: AFRICA
Posts: 153
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Gay bar
Unfortunately I am the one who started that joke about the gay bar 
It was supposed to stay confidential within CHC/Aero people in PH
I just want to let everybody know that it is not a gay bar, everybody is welcome (even gays or lesbians) as long as you behave (yes I know we have seen (done) things
...)
Whatever at least we have a place where we can enjoy, relax, and on saturdays once in a while we do have parties with the help of management
By the way we still need more people (straight, gay, lesbian, trans, I think I didn't forget anybody)
It was supposed to stay confidential within CHC/Aero people in PH
I just want to let everybody know that it is not a gay bar, everybody is welcome (even gays or lesbians) as long as you behave (yes I know we have seen (done) things
...)Whatever at least we have a place where we can enjoy, relax, and on saturdays once in a while we do have parties with the help of management
By the way we still need more people (straight, gay, lesbian, trans, I think I didn't forget anybody)
Noobs,
Keep us posted on how it goes on the next ten rotations or so....as those "minor" hiccups occur as they surely will.
Keep us posted on how it goes on the next ten rotations or so....as those "minor" hiccups occur as they surely will.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Sunny Niger
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
nothing encouraging
thats wht i said, nothing encouraging me, everybody is talking about the elections....what do think will happens after the elections??? the militants will just desapear like that...and life will go back to normal?? like magic
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: belgium
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
nigeria
hi
seems to be the issue of the present days, im offered nigeria too, everybody is leaving or wht??? the poeple have posted r you living there now or quit???
Regards
Kay
seems to be the issue of the present days, im offered nigeria too, everybody is leaving or wht??? the poeple have posted r you living there now or quit???
Regards
Kay