Play Network Studios, Native Media present Adam Garbo (Kayode), Nnamdi Agbo (Omar), Sam Dede (Mallam Jerry), Jemima Osunde (Temitope), Idia Aisen (Ese), Efe Iwara (Captain Odion), John Dumelo (Captain Ambrose), Akinsola Oluwaseyi (Dayo), Allison Emmanuel (Ben), Sharon Ooja (Ada), Nancy Isime (Iyabo). Director, Robert Peters; Executive Producer, Charles Okpaleke, Elvis Okpaleke; Producer, Roger Ifeme, Charles; Co-Producer, Agozie Agwa, Arafat Baello; Associate Producers, Roxanne Adenkule-Wright, Prince Daniel Adenkule; Screenwriter, Musa Jeffery David; Director of Photography, Jonathan Kovel ©2024.
Hijak ’93 preaches something to me that makes my heart swell: If only I were young again. I wouldn’t have hijacked a plane, but talking to the people, I know they are no stones. Hear me talking of ‘stone’ here. True story. In secondary school, I was forced to join a group of friends in a student riot against the national government. With a large stone in my hands over my head, ready to throw at the government car, I froze in time. I remembered Mark Anthony’s “You are no stones” phrase. I dropped the stone and ran back home. From that day, I learned I am not given to rebel spirit. I can’t be nobody’s stone. See what befalls these young fellows.
Unless word fails me here, the subject under review has political underpinnings, structurally, with immeasurable pitfalls. The objective of hijacking Nigerian Airways was to demand that the federal government overturn the national election in favor of their party, which they claim rightfully won. I will choose Silverton Siege (2022) or, better yet, Dog Day Afternoon (1975) over Hijack ’93, and I will tell you why. The two films keep you in your seat, savoring every bit of the flicks. There’s tension and an expectation of doom in the end. Sidney Lumet’s masterpiece, Dog Day Afternoon, is a bank robbery by Sonny that turns into a hostage situation. In Silverton, a trio of Apartheid freedom fighters seeks refuge in a bank, and it ends in a hostage situation, even demanding the release of Mandella.
This is what the hijackers’ leader told the passengers in the Nigerian Airways cabin: We are not hijackers; we are the movement for the Advancement of Democracy. We demand an end to the oppressive regime that has stolen the collective wealth of so many just for the gain of a few…We give the Nigerian govt seventy-two hours to reinstate our democratically elected president. We are not terrorists. Power to the people! This is the rag-tag crew by Mallam Jerry (Sam Dede) to hold the government in its tracks and prevent it from stealing the election.
The above message from the hijackers’ leader on the Nigerian Airways bound for Abuja forms the premise and subject of discussion. As in every essay, we observe how the writer stayed with his theme. So many questions come to mind. There’s one I could ask, but that comes in later. There are many pitfalls in Hijack ’93, such as late take-off, a woman going into labor, and the Ambassador’s son on board, and we can start with the timing. The plane’s takeoff was delayed, and time is of the essence in a hijack situation. The issue of hijacking a plane bound for Abuja in the name of making a political statement is no small feat, especially since the aircraft was to be relayed to an airport (for a said refueling) rather than Frankfurt, Germany, where the Hijackers would be rewarded. Since the hijackers’ interest is justice and fair play for all in local politics, we didn’t see the public come out in droves on the side of the streets to boost the morale of the hijackers, as we witnessed in Silverton Siege or Dog Day Afternoon. See the response of the people on the flight when the lead hijacker yelled, “Power to the people!” Not one shouted back.
If Hijack ’93 manages to bring to light our government failures, the scenes bring out so much. The most exciting scene is when the businessman, in a bathroom scene, wants to bribe one of the hijackers with ten thousand dollars in his briefcase:
“I have a business proposal for you…I have ten thousand dollars in my briefcase, and it is all yours if you can get me off this plane…. Yes, the coolest and easiest money you will ever make in your life…I am a very important person in this country. I am honorable Abdulaziz Yari, Chief Judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria. So, do we have a deal?”
“Now, take your hands off me.” (close to his face, and a pistol to his neck). “Tell me, Mr. Judge, how many innocent lives did you trade for that money bag? You’re not so powerful now, eh? You think money makes you untouchable… invisible…I have no compassion for thieves. He bursts out laughing out loud as the man starts to pee on himself. “Oh, you’re not so untouchable, eh?”
The scene reveals the film’s facts–the reason for the hijack. Oligarchs and their ilk bilk the country dry, and they, therefore, go on to corrupt the political system; to the point, you ask yourself the reason for casting electoral votes while, in the end, your vote doesn’t matter, but a guy in a cream-colored agbada, in Abuja, determines everything, including your fate. Yes, your fate! As a matter of fact, they strangle the political neck of the system and leaving no breathingroom.
The hijackers surrendered to the term, and they wouldn’t be tried by the Nigerian government but Niger. With no fuss or gunshots but without achieving the goal–the election result turned over. Owiwi’s demeanor foretells the fate of the hijackers. He is in a nervous wreck, like one high on crack. Even as too much work is put into the production of Hijack ’93, there’s not much I could say about it. Maybe I am missing the Bruce Willis Die Hard (1988) film, in the scene where Bruce frees his wife from the Hijackers. Again, in cinema, if you said, “We have a bomb on this plane,” you must make use of the bomb. But I miss the adrenaline, the fuming side of their mouths, the guys running up and down the narrow lanes in the aircraft, wielding revolvers in the air, the terror in the passengers’ eyes, the pandemonium, and the commotion! Faster intercutting is an incredible way for hijacking movies to mount tensions. Here in Hijack ’93, scenes are longer, which kills the film’s tension to be qualified as a hijack project.