How One Architect Helped Imagine a Better Future for a Nigerian Village in Crisis

In 2014, a Boko Haram attack on the village of Ngarannam in North East Nigeria decimated the community. In the past, local government has responded to incidents from the militant Islamist terrorist group by applying Band-Aids to deep wounds; people are given poorly constructed housing, leaving them susceptible to future raids, or, as was the case with Ngarannam, sent to refugee camps.

But now, more than eight years after that attack, Ngarannam has just celebrated the ribbon cutting of its brand new village that’s designed with a vision for prosperity. Imagined by Nigerian architect Tosin Oshinowo, it includes a health clinic, a community center, an elementary school with instructor quarters, a police station, a large marketplace, and a system of roadways. (It will also eventually include a a mosque, though Oshinowo won’t be involved with that element.)

Behind the innovative effort is the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Nigeria’s resident representative of the global humanitarian organization, Mohamed Yahya, who sought something more permanent for the people of Ngarannam—something beautiful and fortified that could empower and sustain them for years to come.

"Normally, government builds the ugliest homes because they’re thinking about speed and getting people out of refugee camps," Yahya says. "They just build a box and put something on top. But for any nation to develop and overcome challenges, it needs a psychology of progress. It needs to engage creatives to help construct and imagine a better future."

The best person to respond to the needs of a community, and in doing so instill in them a sense of pride, he thought, would be an architect. A social media search brough Yahya to Oshinowo, who heads up her Lagos firm, cmDesign Atelier. "I first saw Tosin’s work on Instagram and was eventually introduced by a friend," he says. "In thinking about cultural awareness, I was attracted to the idea of working with her on this: She’s a woman, she’s Nigerian—I knew she’d use her design skills to bring sensitivity to the rebuilding of her own country."

Oshinowo began her design process by visiting overflowing internally displaced person (IDP) camps, essentially long-term waiting rooms for refugees, where Ngarannam villagers had been living since the 2014 attacks. "I couldn’t believe what I saw," the architect says. "There were five-year-old children who didn’t know any other living condition. There were tents with ants crawling everywhere. It was just very humbling."