Our route had now obviously been completely blotted out and here I reckoned less of our chances of survival. We’re like a voyage ship veered off course by a ruthless storm now left with no radar or compass. Ours is a sorry tale of an unpredictable adventure. One moment it seem like we’re going home to mama’s warm embrace and tears of joy, the next moment we feel helplessly immersed in the blackness of hopelessness.” - Dami K.
Now it’s clear to me, I haven’t understood as well as I should, the cracks on the ground we stood. A blast ignited through ballot boxes by the choices of unsuspecting and innocent Nigerians has rippled across the country and has torn the curtain open to set the stage for these cracks to grow into magnified quakes now swallowing us up.” - Dami K.
To do what you want is not a privilege. It is a curse. It is the curse of ordinary men. Men with no responsibilities do whatever they want. Common men with no value and self worth do whatever they want. Men whose lives have no worthy purpose are free to do whatever they want. Not you. You are a prince for whom a heavy crown and a powerful throne await. You do not do whatever you want; you do what must be done."- King Chuka
GATA must be willing to bind where terrorist organisations loose and loose where terrorist organisations bind. Anywhere there is an internal conflict, especially if there is a terrorist organisation which stands to benefit from the escalation of such conflict; GATA must come around to encourage a sustainable resolution.
This level of operational and organisational perfection for a body that has a scourge as unpredictable as terrorism to deal with is nearly utopian, but it is what GATA must strive to reach, a pursuit that must be written in its DNA.
Yes, they have all done some good work that has left our world a safer place today. But we need a more direct strategy that can endure for as long as the threat persists without hurting the sovereignty of nations and human rights of the same people it seeks to protect.
Yes, it is totally acceptable that for any given country to become assured of its safety, it has to get out of its way to make the world safer generally. But getting out of its way does not necessarily have to mean getting into another country’s backyard. Rather, it should mean getting into a more sensible and a more effective coalition with other countries for same purpose in a manner that ensures both mutual safety and mutual dignity –both coming in adequate measures, the achieving of one not necessitating the foregoing of the other.