CYBER-ONYE AGHALA NWANNEYA: A FRAMEWORK FOR CULTURALLY GROUNDED CYBERSECURITY WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA

ABSTRACT:

Africa faces a critical cybersecurity skills gap that formal education alone has been unable to close. This paper presents a research-informed framework for addressing this challenge by drawing on the Igbo Apprenticeship System (IAS), a community-based, semi-structured model of knowledge transfer indigenous to Southeastern Nigeria. Grounded in the principle of Onye Aghala Nwanneya (“no one should be left behind”), the paper situates IAS as a culturally resonant alternative to Western-centric models of cybersecurity training. Using a conceptual mapping methodology, we extract core components of IAS (talent identification, mentorship, shadowing, and settlement) and analyse their potential for adaptation into cybersecurity skills development pipelines. We propose the “Cyber-Onye-Aghala-Nwanneya” framework and discuss its implications for policy, practice, and future research on indigenous knowledge systems in digital skills development.

Keywords: Cybersecurity workforce, indigenous knowledge systems, mentorship, Igbo Apprenticeship System, digital capacity building.