THE LOST VILLAGE SERIES (The Story Behind the Series)

In traditional African society, a child was never raised in THE LOST VILLAGE SERIES (The Story Behind the Series)

In traditional African society, a child was never raised in isolation. The community was an extended shield—an unspoken pact where every adult held both the authority and the duty to protect, guide, and correct any child within reach. It was a collective ecosystem built on shared responsibility.
The Lost Village series emerges from a period of close observation in Mararaba—a high-density urban transit zone often called 'Small Lagos.' Mararaba is a microcosm of modern West African urbanization: chaotic, vibrant, resilient, but increasingly fragmented. Through daily immersion, a stark transition became undeniable: the communal shield has broken down.
Where the village once stepped in, modern socioeconomic strain and isolation have left a void. Today, the street has replaced the community as the primary teacher. Even in homes where parents struggle fiercely to instill values, the environment outside pulls harder. Children are exposed to premature adulthood—driven by economic survival into street hawking, child labor, and gang involvement.
This series visually documents this friction: the tension between home-bred values and street-bred reality, the contrast between parental effort and environmental erosion, and the silent question of what happens to a generation when the village disappears. Read More