In 2024, Robert O. Peters released a Nigerian thriller ‘Hijack ’93 which is based off of the historic Nigerian Airways hijacking that occurred in 1993. The story focusses on the four young men who executed the hijacking, detailing their motives and subsequent actions while ordeming the flight.
Synopsis:
This story is set in the early 1990s at the heart of Nigerian’s political conflicts. The storyline follows four men , Omar (Nnamdi Agbo), Kayode (Adam Garba), Ben (Allison Emmanuel), and Dayo (Oluwaseyi Akinsola) who are led by Mallam Jerry Yusuf (Sam Dede), and on October 25, 1993, the group of men commandeered a Nigerian Airways flight from Lagos to Abuja. He was the self-proclaimed “captain,” after deciding the goal of the takeover was to use the fuel that was loaded onto the flight to land in Frankfurt, Germany. The goal of this plan was to grab the media’s attention along with the rest of the world alongside bringing light to Nigeria’s political concerns after the presidential election on June 12, 1993 was deemed void. Following these actions and due to fuel restrictions, the plane will be required to make a landing in Niamey, Niger and it will need to be followed up with an arousal of a situation between them and the passengers. This film walks through the internal struggles of the hijackers, the suffering passengers had to go through, and the political relevance of their actions.
Crew and Cast:
Nnamdi Agbo as Omar(Skipper): He plays a democratic reformer who is the head the hijackers and had set eyes towards great change during the Nigeria Airways hijacking.
Adam Garba as Kayode (Eruku): Represents an activist trying to justify their unorthodox choices and actions.
Allison Emmanuel as Ben (Owiwi): Portrays a confused adolescent struggling between the love for the cause and the repercussions of the activities that have sprung up around them.
Oluwaseyi Akinsola as Dayo (Iku): Depicts the youngest character in the film who misses the point of the cause.
Sam Dede as Mallam Jerry Yusuf: He is a mentor to the other characters, and it is his extreme logic that drives the inspiration behind the actions of the hijackers.
Nancy Isime as Iyabo: Plays a flight attendant with the spirit of a heroine trying to sustain order during the turmoil the leadership has caused.
John Dumelo As Captain Ambrose: A veteran of the industry, he is the captain of the airplane who has to rush the safety of his clients in the airplane while dealing with the specific demands brought forth by the hijackers.
The screenplay was written by Musa Jeffery David and, to the best of his ability, attempts to portray the conditions that caused the intention and the act of the hijacking alongside the political setting of that era. The film is scored by Gray Jones Ossai, who, through sophisticated music, builds the atmosphere that supports the drama of the great events that are happening.
Analysis of the Production:
The shooting phase began in May 2023 during which Play Network Studios worked with Native Media. The production team studied historical materials and eyewitnesses to accurately recreate the period of 1993. A critical component of the preparation for the role was the intense training some actors had to undergo to meet the realistic physical and psychological parameters of their roles, especially the political motivations of the actual hijackers.
Analysis of the Reception:
“Hijack ‘93” has captured the attention of many ever since its Netflix premiere on October 25, 2024, at which time the show had already accrued 3.2 million views during its first week on the platform, ranking 9 on Netflix Nigeria’s top 10 list. It subsequently reached the mark of 7.3 million views while hitting 3rd on the Netflix Global Chart for most watched English films and Top 10 in over 61 countries. The film has garnered mixed reviews from critics, however, the general consensus seems to be that the opinion is leaning towards unfavorability.
African Folder: Noghama Ehioghae suggests the “lack of profundity” in the film warrants a 3.6 rating. Ehioghae states that film falls short of providing a substantial backstory for the hijackers rendering their motivations incomprehensible to the audience.
Midgard Times: Neerja Choudhuri deemed the film more deserving of an 8 out of 10. The reviewer noted the exceeding levels of tension throughout the screenplay and the mastery displayed by the cast as the strongest points of the film.
Omoleye Omoruyi gave a 2 out of 10 for the film saying, “it looks like a collage of disconnected scenes stitched together”, which suggests the film was not very comprehensive in serving its purpose of telling a story. The viewer ended up feeling that all the pieces in the film were scattered and did not align with the central theme.
Analysis:
“Hijack ’93” tries to focus on an event that many tend to ignore from Nigerian history. The film does capture the political turbulence of the time, but there is a failure in developing the characters, specifically the hijackers in terms of their background and purpose. some shots do overstay their welcome, thus the pacing feels uneven, which makes all the tension feel lacking. Nonetheless, some heavy-hitting performances, notably from Nnamdi Agbo and Sam Dede, add color to the story by showing the struggles both internally and externally of the characters.
Conclusion:
“Hijack ‘93” will remain one of the foremost attempts in Nigeria in trying to reenact a very important and sensitive aspect of Nigeria’s life and the process to it’s democracy. Even with the lacks in the story, the viewer is forced to ask tough questions like how far can one go in trying to change government policies and what is the reality of being an activist and a violent extremist. People who find intrigue in real life political dramas will definitely have their minds challenged by “Hijack ‘93.”
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