Growing up in my hometown of Offa, Kwara state, from the late 80's to 90's, I heard tales of communal feud that engulfed Offa and Erin Ile communities in the 70's. Sometimes naively coated in sugary embellishments, tale of the exploits of the local hunters and warriors abound. But we had cause to thank God we never witnessed it. At least in my more than 15 years in the community there was peace, if my memory serves me right. That was between 1985 to 2000. We the kids in Offa can enter Erin Ile anytime, without any fear. In those days of boyish adventures, I, alongside my playmates, once rolled our tyres from Offa to Erin Ile. Erin Ile people also entered Offa freely for their trade. That was how mixed and peaceful the two communities had become.

But that peace came at a price. It took the intervention of then Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo, to put off the flames of hostility between the two warring communities in the late 1970's. My mind still flashes back to that picture I saw in Pa James Olafimihan's book, Iwe Itan Offa (history of Offa), which I read as a primary school pupil in the early 90's, of General Obasanjo, alongside the traditional rulers of the two communities, sign a peace accord. It is therefore very unfortunate that what one thought was history many years ago is now repeating itself, thirty five years after.

There was similar skirmish in 2005 actually, but the intervention of Bukola Saraki-led Kwara state government then was able to stem the tide, albeit after loss of many lives and limbs. The renewed crisis between the two communities that started couple of weeks ago is reported to have taken a deadlier dimension. People have been killed, innocent people in particular. Properties have been destroyed. Curfew has been declared, the polytechnic in the community – which temporary campus is located at the border – has been shut. Although some of the pictures being circulated on Facebook as butchered bodies of victims are actually from the infernal Aluu 4 saga, not from this communal clash, the gruesome murders are nonetheless unfortunate.

For how long shall we continue to live under this hostility? Why, for God's sake, can't the two communities move on? After the first battle, we lived together without any clash between 1979 and 2005, what went wrong again? Twenty six years is enough for wounds to have healed. Bottling up hostility doesn't profit anyone. Both communities lose valuable lives, even if Offa, perhaps due to its always been caught off-guard (sign of having let it go), has always lost more lives. But this is not a time to trade blame; it is a time to tell ourselves the home truth: violence benefits no one.

I understand the age-long rivalry stems from land ownership. But this matter has been settled in court many times. Various government commissions of inquiries have also looked into the matter in the past. It therefore worries one that the peace achieved always turns to be temporal. I am aware that a road was constructed by the Kwara state government in the aftermath of the 2005 carnage as boundary demarcation between the two communities. Rather than waste lives the courts are there for anybody to channel their grievances.

In this age where communities are exploring the positive externalities arising from physical interconnectedness it is a big shame that these communities have refused to integrate. Clustering of communities offers great mutual advantage to the local economy. Offa and its neighbouring communities of Erin Ile, Ipee, Igosun, Ijagbo, Ilemona, and even Ojoku, being walking distance from each other, have a potential to become a force to reckon with in local economic partnership. It appears only Ijagbo is reaping the benefits now. Offa is not a large scale farming community, but it compensates for that in market for farm produce. The surrounding communities have the farms. With higher institutions of learning springing up in every corner of Offa, and most of them at the border areas, that is a market for houses in the neighbouring communities in terms of rent at reasonable prices. If we were to be a serious people we should be talking of bringing eggheads from the communities together, with a backing from the governments of the Local councils, channeling a path for our mutual development. But we have is crude exercise of diabolic power, wantonly wasting lives and properties of our people. These are wars you read of in books on nineteenth century ethnic histories. Too bad we are still stuck in this primitivism.

But it is not too late. The current shameful crisis should offer another opportunity for us to make a rethink. Do we want to continue oiling our wheel of backwardness by continuously creating barriers to our integration when other communities are tearing down barriers and moving forward? Or we want to continue like this? The choice is for the two communities. But one thing I know for sure is we have never established and may never establish who is right, but we have always come back after each clash to ask who is left. A word is enough for the wise.

Meanwhile, the response of the security agencies to the current crisis is not impressive. This crisis doesn't appear spontaneous as war drums were sounded for many days before the attacks started. This is why it surprises me that such a free-for-all could ensue in broad daylight, for many hours each day, for many days without security intervention. For a community that has law enforcement barracks and Naval school, it raises begging questions. The law enforcement agencies should please up their game.