The Rambo spirit

Many of us were nurtured on a diet of action films. I remember how we scaled the school fence to watch DJANGO, starring Franco Nero as the ‘Actor’ (as we called the main character in those days). The film played on the Union versus Confederate sentiments in America. The riveting story shows a Union soldier-turned-layabout […]

Many of us were nurtured on a diet of action films. I remember how we scaled the school fence to watch DJANGO, starring Franco Nero as the ‘Actor’ (as we called the main character in those days). The film played on the Union versus Confederate sentiments in America. The riveting story shows a Union soldier-turned-layabout and his partner, a mixed-race prostitute, who both become caught up in an incredibly violent feud between a mob of Confederate Red Shirts and a pack of Mexican revolutionaries.

The film became known as one of the most violent films ever made. In the coy 60’s, it was refused a certificate in the United Kingdom. But Nigeria had no such regulatory filters at the time. So successful was the film that it enjoyed a large cult following outside Italy.  Today, it is still widely regarded as one of the best films of the Spaghetti Western genre.

Then there was KILL THEM ALL AND COME BACK ALONE, an Italian movie, in which a bunch of trained roughnecks are sent behind enemy lines to steal a pile of gold, with at least one traitor in their midst! Among the ruthless mercenaries were the following — LYNCH: a cold-blooded killer with ice in his veins; HOAGY:  who used a revolver like a machine gun; DEKER: dynamite was his trademark; KID: Killing was his hobby; BOGARD: strong enough to squeeze a man to death with one hand; BLADE: used a knife like a surgeon.

When not trying to kill or rip off each other, these guys are taking on the USA army, and winning! Eventually, only one man could – KILL THEM ALL AND COME BACK ALONE.

And, more recently, RAMBO made a grand entry in 1982, first as FIRST BLOOD directed by Ted Kotcheff, and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, who also stars as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. In the film, Rambo, a weather-beaten, troubled and misunderstood veteran, relies on his combat and survival training against the abusive law enforcement of the small town of Hope, Washington. He is a veritable one-man army. The film was so successful that it spawned a franchise of four sequels, an animated television series and a series of comic books, novels, video games and a Bollywood remake — making it one of the most successful films in the action genre.

I have taken the above excursion into the past and how we relished action films and their play on our emotions to make the point that the kind of violence shown in those films are acceptable as fiction on the big screen. When replicated in real life against defenceless people, every thinking soul must rise up in defence of sane society.

That was what the Chadian army did recently when it reduced hundreds of Boko Haram terrorists to a pile of bodybags. It was a Django-style operation of which Rambo would have been proud. Based on solid intelligence, the operation was carried out by a well motivated army with the backing of an inspirational leadership and patriotic citizens. I’m told that upon receipt of intelligence from their foreign allies, the Chadians cased the area to verify and then designed a military dragnet to haul in the fish.

Codenamed “Operation Wrath of Borno,” the military action came after Boko Haram terrorists had dealt a heavy blow to the Chadian military, killing over 90 soldiers. The Chadian offensive took place at Kelkoua bank and Magumeri where the army destroyed several Boko Haram bunkers, recovered cache of arms and arrested a top Boko Haram commander. They also allegedly set free some Nigerian soldiers held captive by the terrorists at Magumeri.

In a tweet, he disclosed as follows: “I went down this morning to Kaiga-Kindjinria. No element of Boko Haram was present in the islands of Lake Chad. Congratulations to our Defence and Security Forces who have cleaned up the entire island area”.

A video clip making the rounds on social media shows Deby revealing that Boko Haram factional leader, Abubakar Shekau, narrowly escaped during the military action in Dikwa. He goes on to advise Shekau to surrender or be killed inside his Dikwa hideout. “Abubakar Shekau was lucky”, said Deby; “he was at Dikwa during the attack. He fled from Dikwa but we know where he is.”

I join fellow Nigerian patriots in appreciating the gallantry of the Chadian forces. As I always say, there is nothing wrong if a woman kills a snake even where a man is present — the important thing is that the snake is dead.

But I shook my head in disgust when I saw a press release from the Nigerian Army announcing that, “The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt Gen TY Buratai has relocated fully to the North East where he is overseeing and directing the overall operation in the theatre and other Nigerian Army operations across the country ….”

Is that press release supposed to show us that the army chief is finally obeying the presidential directive of 2015 mandating him to move his headquarters to the Northeast? Has Boko Haram ever advertised Shekau’s movements? Did the Chadians issue any statement about their intentions before routing Boko Haram?

In fictional films like DJANGO, KILL THEM ALL AND COME BACK ALONE and RAMBO, surprise is a key element. Same with modern warfare which, by the way, is serious business. Nigerians would prefer to be told after the operation that Abu Mohammed Abubakar Bin Mohammad Al-Sheikawi (Shekau) and Abu Mus’ab Habeeb Bin Muhammad Bin Yusuf A-Barnawi and the other terrorists have been killed, to being told that our army chief is changing his office address.