Another slight thread drift…

Obi Nwana formerly of BHNL and Chevron passed away 2 weeks ago in his apartment in Lagos. No other details available

Is that the very tall Obi?

It was SAS. He went through Bristow’s cadet training program at Redhill back in the day and ended up a Training Captain with BHNL

I thought so....he was a very good Man....and a gentleman who I had a lot of respect for and very much enjoyed flying with him.

He was a stand up guy!

My Condolences to his family, friends, and co-workers.

To paraphrase HM Queen Elizabeth when responding to accounts about people and events, recollections may differ............

NEO

I was raised to never speak ill of the dead as doing so was considered to be very poor manners.

One is free to think what one wishes....but sometimes silence is golden.

Sasless,

Same here. I have never publicly spoken ill of any deceased individual or group. You're absolutely right, opinions and thoughts are freedoms everyone has regardless of their environment. Oftentimes they're better kept to oneself.

NEO

Oil theft in Nigeria hits a new high....or is a new low....but at any rate it is in the Billions of Dollars.

The days of the bunker barges and tapping into above ground pipelines have been eclipsed by the latest admitted thievery that includes an underwater tap and 2.5 mile long pipeline.

Oil Tankers showing up late in the afternoon and departing before dawn seem like small potatoes nowadays.

You do have to give the thieves credit....they went big and scored well until the wrong hands were not greased.....or they got into the Big Oghah's private reserve.

And ever has it been so. The difference now being that a weak Federal Government has emboldened the Oligarchs who have always been the power behind the Presidential throne to become even more brazen.

Sas, you and I know very well that theft and corruption are seen as legitimate routes to success in the same way as working ones way up the ranks of an organisation are in our countries. Every country has corruption, the difference in Nigeria is that it's brazen and looked upon with jealousy by those left behind. "I wish I'd thought of that" etc.

NEO

Damn, I wish I'd thought of this, although I did have to check the calendar to make sure we hadn't just started April. I never realised that collecting landing fees on offshore helipads (amongst other places) was an internationally accepted practice, but now I know!

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/...platforms.html

Nigeria begins collection of charges on helicopters landing on oil platforms

“Our mandate is to collect helicopter landing charges for IOCs and LOCs on all the platforms, oil rigs, airstrips, aerodromes, helipads, among others.”

ByAgency Report

October 14, 2022

Reading Time: 2 mins readAn indigenous firm engaged by the Federal Government, Naebi Dynamic Concepts Limited, has inaugurated a team to drive its new initiative of collecting landing and take-off charges from helicopters operating in all platforms across the country.

According to a statement issued on Thursday by Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Naebi Dynamic, Chike Stanley, the policy would create at least 15,000 jobs nationwide.

Mr Stanley inaugurated at the International Wing of the Port Harcourt Airport on Thursday, the implementation committee for Rivers State.

The statement reported Mr Stanley as taking the step to advance the mandate given by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, when he inaugurated the consortium in Port Harcourt to collect landing and take-off charges from helicopters operating within the country’s airspace.

Mr Sirika said the initiative would help to increase the revenue generation in the sector and create employment opportunities across the country.

The team inaugurated by Mr Stanley included the representatives of Police, DSS, Rivers State Government and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

Mr Stanley said the implementation team would help the firm have easy access to all the platforms, oil rigs, airstrips, aerodromes, helipads, and helipods in Rivers.

He commended President Muhammadu Buhari and Mr Sirika, saying the initiative would help to generate over 15,000 jobs soon and curb criminality and restiveness among the youth.
Mr Stanley, who described the move as an internationally accepted standard, said no right-thinking International Oil Company (IOC) would flout the law, as contained in the amended NAMA Act.
“Our mandate is to collect helicopter landing charges for IOCs and LOCs on all the platforms, oil rigs, airstrips, aerodromes, helipads, among others.

The initiative is to generate jobs and increase the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

“It is also solving security problems. It has been tough, but it has been wonderful.

“We are getting there. We have started. Already there is compliance at the airport and we hope to have more compliance. We thank the Minister for always giving us all the support that we need.

“I thank the President of Nigeria, who has created this platform. I thank the Minister of Aviation, who has stood his ground to ensure that jobs are created for Nigerian youths.

“In the next five years this platform will generate employment for more than 15,000 youths across the country,” he said.

“This will help to curb some levels of insecurity. This opportunity will help to engage them.

“We have called the stakeholders to educate them on what has happened. They have written to NNPC, they have written to the Ministry of Petroleum. We are also taking people from these communities to train, employ and mentor.

“The essence of the meeting is a message that nobody is coming to harass any IOCs. This is a way to tell the IOCs that the government has directed access to be created to implement this.

“When you see them being received, as an IOC, you know that this is the standard practice across the global aviation industry.

“This is an implementation committee for Rivers State. We are going to move from state to state. It is an implementation team to carry out the responsibility given by the Federal Government.”

(NAN)

Won’t be many IOCs around soon. XOM out shortly and Shell following!

15000 jobs. Yeah right!

There’ll be 15000 on the payroll, but that doesn’t equate to 15000 actual employees.
TIA

Those of us who were detained by AK47 wielding MOPOL during the Abacha regime as hostages while the Federal Task Force For Accelerated Revenue Generation blackmailed our employers may see the similarity.

Sani was just squeezing every Kobo anywhere he could get it. IMHO this regime is being run by cronies rather than the "elected" President who believe the multinationals and the expats who work for them are profiteering and they should share in the spoils.

NEO

Brilliant !! Good luck to them. If you don't take it yourself you'll get nothing. Wish it was me !

It did make for an interesting day when the Police attempted to hijack you and your helicopter.

The laugh was when an American Pilot who lives in Germany took a hijacker for a flight out to a Texaco Platform.....at 3500 feet....with the Hijacker standing on the skids .

Was rumored the Hijacker left his fingerprints embedded in the paint on the side of the cabin.

What was the recored for being held hostage.....thirteen days?

Sas,

My memories are faded, but I think there were a people held for a lot longer than 13 days. Not sure, but the two pilots (one an Aussie, the other a Hungarian American and mate of yours) were held just south of Warri for what seemed like a long time. It was rumoured the Aussie never recovered from his mistreatment and had a breakdown, Never flew again.

In contrast I was sent with the Delta State Military Administrator and some British negotiators in a 212 (another one had his hangers on) to a village near the coast south of Warri to collect a TOPCON company man who'd been kidnapped. When the time came for him to walk toward us (like a Checkpoint Charlie scene from one of those Cold War films), he didn't want to come ! Apparently the villagers had catered to his every whim, and I mean EVERY whim and he was geting paid so he wanted to stay until his usual change over date.

NEO

19 I think. The crew NEO refers to. CH and GS. I managed a paltry 5 days! There were 4 crews in 5 months. GB was last and did 14 days.

Might have watched a few Vietnam insertion videos SAS. If in the right seat make sure the window is up as they used to hold the M-16 upside down, don't ask me why, and the brass would rain upon your head, lap, and in one case inside my collective hand glove, that stuff is hot.

Also paid to keep your collar turned up and tightly buttoned.....to keep that hot brass from finding its way down into some really sensitive areas!

The Texaco platform was the Funiwa.
BH was the pilot with the 355.
The unexpected outside passenger was a "village boy(young man)" who did not want the helicopter to leave the village so he thought he could hold it down!
Just prior to landing on the rig BH saw the guy run past the helicopter from behind towards the stairs exit from the deck!
Those were very dangerous and busy times for all the crews flying in the Delta.
"Watch your six"! and everywhere else!
On one of my 212 Shell flights from Warri our local crew member was checking the manifest on who should get on board. He radioed us that checking the names with the ID Cards was correct, but none of the photos on the ID Cards matched with the guys faces.
The "village boys/hijackers" had locked up all the correct Shell workers!
Needless to say....Lots of excitement!