The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has released images of its just-completed first phase of the Tosin Oshinowo-designed Ngarannam village reconstruction project in Northeast Nigeria.

The project to resettle villagers displaced by Boko Haram was begun last year as part of the UNDP’s Regional Stabilisation Facility Initiative, which will rebuild a total of six communities in three of the country’s northeastern states profoundly affected by conflicts with the insurgent group in order to "quickly mend trust between the people and government."

The new Ngarannam village includes a total of 564 units of housing, a primary school, police station, community health center, shaded market, security forces barracks, government offices, and 16 small shops. Additional defensive trenches were enacted around the perimeter of the site to provide extra security in the case of emergency, and another 240 housing units will be brought in as part of Phase II of the development, which is already underway.

The UNDP says the reconstruction planning included collaborative community input and resulted in the incorporation of several energy-efficient strategies, including green appliances, solar infrastructure, and broadscale replanting of vegetation, aimed at bolstering resilience in the community that has been equally impacted by the devastating impacts of climate change.

"The results that we have seen today prove that the concept of stabilization works and strengthens society and the state," Annett Gunther, Germany’s ambassador to Nigeria, said in summary.

Those results include an impressive 89% of recently-surveyed respondents who reported satisfaction with the government over the rapidly-enacted stabilization. Another 72% reported feelings of overall security. 

The work also helps to shift local perceptions of "marginalization, disenfranchisement, and lack of inclusiveness" caused by the country’s endemic north-south divide at a critical time when Nigeria prepares for an unprecedented national election set to take place just under four months from today.

"Stabilization aims to strengthen the relationship between the Government and the people and build trust between the two. Trust and service provision are key in reversing the attraction to extremism," Mohamed Yahya, the UNDP’s Resident Representative for Nigeria, said finally. "Our strategies have prioritized efforts to empower the community members with real ownership and pride in their communities by helping them recover with dignity and moving them out of dependency. I believe our work in northeast Nigeria exemplifies how development can be delivered with communities at the center, not only in Nigeria but for the rest of the region and the world, especially where peace and stability remain fragile."