June 06, (THEWILL) – There seems to be a decline in the fortunes of Caverton Helicopters. The aviation company owned by one of the patriarchs of high society, Chief Remi Makanjuola, used to be considered as one of Nigeria’s leading providers of marine, aviation and logistics services to local and multinational oil and gas companies in the country. Unfortunately it is now struggling to stay afloat.
First, the company has had to deal with a series of crashes. Back in 2019, one of the company’s helicopters, which had Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on board, crash-landed in Kabba, Kogi State. The Vice President escaped unhurt. While the company blamed the crash on adverse weather conditions, the report by Accident Investigation Bureau attributed the incident to human error.
About three weeks ago, another helicopter belonging to the company crashed in Cameroon, killing all passengers on board, including the pilot, Adzuayi Ewuga, who was the daughter of a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Solomon Ewuga. The helicopter crashed into a forest after losing radio contact with air traffic services.
In addition, the company also lost its lucrative contract with Chevron Nigeria Limited to a rival company, Bristow Helicopters. THEWILL gathered that the loss was allegedly due to the company’s poor maintenance culture.
To make matters worse, Caverton only just allegedly secured about $17 million to finance the Chevron contract. With the loss, the company’s financial challenges have gone from bad to worse. Now it will be harder to keep the company afloat or prevent pilots from leaving more than ever.
Prior to the recent blow, reports claimed that the aviation company was battling with poor management and non-payment of pilots’ salaries, among other challenges. Most of its pilots could not endure the situation and allegedly had to leave. Indeed, the company’s offices nationwide were shut down in 2018 after the staff accused it of running a slave camp. Some of the local pilots and engineers revealed that the management of Caverton was allegedly partial in the way it favoured some of its staff and neglected others. The Nigerian workers accused the company of discriminating against indigenous pilots and engineers.
Also, investors are said to be allegedly pulling out their funds by selling off their shares, which has resulted in the company’s shares dwindling beyond control.
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