UBUNTU AND NIGERIAN ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP: APPLYING THE AFRICAN COMMUNITARIAN ETHIC OF UBUNTU TO SUSTAINABLE FARMING, DEFORESTATION, AND ECOLOGICAL CARE IN NIGERIA
Ubuntu through its ideas of interconnectedness and collective responsibility can deal with the acute environmental perils that affect Nigeria such as deforestation, unsustainable agricultural practices and ecological degradation. As the country loses more than 1 million hectares of the tree cover every year (2001-2021) with a deforestation percentage of 3.7, there is a dire need to apply ethical frameworks to inform sustainable stewardship of the environment (DGB Group, 2023). Ubuntu philosophy is founded on the I am because we are which gives holistic solutions in which human beings, society and natural world are interdependent. This study describes how the concepts of Ubuntu can be used to develop sustainable agricultural, forest regeneration and ecological restoration programs in Nigeria based on an examination of traditional ecological knowledge systems and community-initiated conservation efforts. It reveals that the collective responsibility, intergenerational responsibility, and peaceful coexistence with nature evolved by Ubuntu appeal to indigenous environmental behaviours that have supported African people through millennium, suggesting how indigenous wisdom can be applied to the current environmental policy.
Keywords: Ubuntu, African Environmental Ethics, Nigerian Environmental Stewardship, Traditional ecological knowledge, Sustainable Agriculture, Deforestation and Community Conservation.