BEYOND WESTERN FRAMEWORKS: AN IGBO PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH TO AI ETHICS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The discourse on artificial intelligence ethics remains dominated by Western philosophical frameworks that privilege individual autonomy, abstract universalism, and rights-based reasoning. While influential, these frameworks often fail to address the communal, relational, and spiritual realities that shape technology adoption in Nigeria. This article advances an alternative approach grounded in Igbo philosophy, arguing that indigenous concepts such as Igwebuike meaning strength in unity, Onye aghana nwanne ya, meaning be your brother’s keeper, Ofo na Ogu meaning justice and moral uprightness, and Eziokwu bu ndu meaning truth is life offer a robust ethical foundation for AI governance in Nigeria. Drawing on these concepts, the paper reframes core AI ethics concerns such as algorithmic fairness, data ownership, consent, accountability, and human dignity as communal rather than solely individual matters. Using cases of facial recognition deployment, credit scoring algorithms, and large language model bias in Nigeria, the research demonstrates how an Igbo informed framework demands community centred consent, relational accountability, and truth centred design. The analysis contributes to decolonial approaches to technology ethics by moving beyond critique toward construction, thereby proposing concrete principles for Nigerian AI policy that are culturally rooted yet globally conversant. Ultimately, using the philosophical methods of analysis and hermeneutics, the paper contends that ethical AI in Nigeria cannot be imported wholesale; it must be rerouted in local ontologies that recognise personhood as fundamentally interdependent. In its findings, the paper concludes that this pluralistic expansion of AI ethics is not only necessary for Nigeria but vital for a more inclusive global governance of emerging technologies.