An Ethnographic Study of Knowledge Sharing Practices in Nigerian Software Engineering Communities of Practice

Communities of practice are critical vehicles for professional knowledge formation and dissemination in software engineering, yet their structure, dynamics, and knowledge sharing mechanisms in Nigerian contexts have not been studied through sustained qualitative inquiry. This dissertation presents an ethnographic study of knowledge sharing practices in Nigerian software engineering communities of practice (CoPs), including developer meetup groups, online forums, and corporate communities of practice in Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Kano. An 18-month ethnographic design combines participant observation at 60 CoP events, 45 in-depth interviews with community members and organisers, document and artefact analysis of shared knowledge repositories, and reflective fieldwork journaling. The study draws on Wenger's Communities of Practice framework as a theoretical anchor while remaining open to emergent local modifications. Three original theoretical contributions are made. First, the phenomenon of Gatekept Knowledge Sharing is identified, whereby informal hierarchies based on professional reputation suppress novice contribution in Nigerian tech communities more strongly than equivalent Western CoPs. Second, Infrastructure-Mediated Learning Disruption is theorised, describing how unreliable internet access fragments online knowledge sharing continuity in distinctive ways. Third, a Nigerian-specific Social Capital Brokerage model is developed to explain how bridging social capital operates through WhatsApp group leadership rather than through formal community governance structures. The dissertation contributes to the sociology of software engineering professionalism in Africa. Keywords: knowledge sharing, communities of practice, software engineering, Nigeria, ethnography