OVER the past two years of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, Nigeria has grappled with severe economic hardship, increasingly dominating the government’s focus. In 2025, these pressures intensified, turning the year into a particularly challenging period marked by rising insecurity and growing international scrutiny.
The convergence of these challenges forced difficult but necessary national conversations on security, governance, and accountability.
In this report, The ICIR looks back at the key issues that made 2025 a watershed moment for the country and for Bola Tinubu’s presidency.
Insecurity
While there were many significant issues that shaped the trajectory of the year, none of them defined 2025 more sharply than insecurity. The year was marked by a disturbing resurgence of mass kidnappings, attacks on rural communities by terror groups and criminal attacks across many states in the Northern region of the country.
In most of these attacks, The ICIR gathered, there were severe casualties, including killings and abductions of hundreds of people, mass displacement and land grabbing.
Earlier in June, The ICIR reported how 25 children were among the over 60 victims killed in Zikke and Hurti and their surrounding villages in Plateau state. Among the casualties of the onslaught on these Plateau communities were dozens of women. Despite government claims that the violence was communal clashes, community leaders and victims insisted there was no provocation and that the attacks were meant to instil fear and intimidation.
Also, on the early hours of Friday, April 18, 2025, a day to commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ, residents of Tse Shawa, a small town in Ukum Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State were attacked by gunmen.
They had earlier heard news about the attacks in some of the neighbouring villages and were prepared to flee in the event of such attacks on their village. By 9 a.m. on the fateful day, armed men descended on the village wielding sophisticated weapons. They fired indiscriminately at the villagers, leaving at least 11 people dead.
These attacks were few of the instances of attacks that ravaged the country before incidents that followed the allegations of the Christian genocide in Nigeria.
The ICIR reported how residents and worshippers in Eruku town, Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, were thrown into panic as armed bandits attacked a local Church on November 18. In a live-stream video seen by The ICIR, the worshippers, including children and the elderly, were singing and waving their hands in devotion when sporadic gunshots rented the air across the premises.
In the aftermath of the incident, at least two people were confirmed dead by the Kwara State police command in a statement. The command confirmed that the attack, which occurred around 6 p.m., led to the death of one Aderemi, and Tunde Asaba Ajayi, a vigilante.
Mass kidnapping of students
Beyond the attacks on communities across several northern states, Nigeria saw different mass abduction of students within the space of one week.
The first abduction happened in Kebbi State, where 24 schoolgirls were kidnapped during a midnight raid on their school, shortly after a military detachment reportedly left the premises.
Sequel to the Kebbi abduction, The ICIR reported how terrorists in the early hours of Friday, November 21, stormed St. Mary’s Papiri Private Catholic Secondary School in the Papiri community of Agwara Local Government Area, Niger State, and abducted over 200 students and teachers.
Although, the Nigerian government has secured the release of the Kebbi snd Niger students.
The mass kidnapping of schoolchildren has surged in Nigeria since the 2014 Chibok abduction, forcing states like Kaduna, Zamfara, Katsina, and Niger to shut thousands of schools over insecurity.
Economic hardship remained unrelenting
Although official economic indicators pointed to stabilisation, with inflation dropping to around 16 per cent and GDP growing modestly, Nigerians saw little improvement in their daily lives.
The ICIR reports that food prices remained high, transport costs did not ease, and many households struggled to cope with consistently rising living costs. Businesses continued to operate in uncertainty, with surveys showing inflation and inconsistent policies as their biggest concerns.
This was despite the repeated claims by the government that the reforms taking shape, the gap between policy gains and real-life experience remained stark.
The ICIR reports that a significant decline in the annual food inflation figure is technically due to the change in the base year methodology. Accordingly, on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in October 2025 was -0.37 per cent, up by 1.21 per cent compared to September 2025 (-1.57 per cent).
Notably, the October inflation marks the seventh consecutive monthly decline since April 2025.
Strikes, more strikes
At least three nationally significant strikes shook Nigeria in 2025. During each strike, there was growing exhaustion of workers who said they were tired of the government’s inaction under Tinubu.
It was a year when the country’s frustrations spilled into the streets, hospital corridors, lecture halls, and government offices, making strikes one of the clearest reflections of a nation under pressure in 2025, unlike the first two years when Tinubu came to office.
The most telling sign came on November 1, when the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) downed tools nationwide. For 29 days, many public hospitals were reduced to emergency-only operations, with many patients waiting endlessly on benches, while some turned back entirely.
The association noted that its National Officers Committee (NOC) had carried out the 30-day ultimatum mandate to the best of its ability but expressed concern that “some elements in government and outside government have very evil and exploitative plans for resident doctors in this country.”
Just weeks earlier, the education sector had been thrown into turmoil when the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) declared yet another nationwide strike in October.
ASUU insisted it had no choice, pointing to failed agreements, payment of earned academic allowances and withheld salaries, settlement of promotion arrears, and an underfunded university system pushed to its knees.
Also, in July, the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) announced a seven-day warning strike after months of pleas about unsafe working conditions, stagnant salaries, and dangerous staffing shortages.
Although the strike was suspended after four days, it reportedly paralysed nursing services in several hospitals.
Controversy that trailed christian genocide claims
Nigeria’s reputation also suffered significant blows in 2025. The United States designated the country a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) over alleged religious freedom violations.
This designation also came with visa restrictions on individuals accused of enabling abuses.
The controversy grew after the U.S. President Donald Trump made comments suggesting possible American military intervention if attacks on Christians continued.
Reacting, President Bola Tinubu, on September 30, dismissed allegations of religious genocide in Nigeria as unfounded, stressing that the nation is built on the faith and resilience of its people.
Tinubu affirmed that no religion is under threat in the country, adding that after 65 years of independence, Nigerians have learned to value and embrace their cultural and religious diversity.
Following that the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, met with a United States congressional delegation in Abuja on Sunday, December 7, as part of ongoing security talks between both countries on the matter.
Also, in a statement after the meeting, Congress member Riley M. Moore described the conversation as “productive and positive,” emphasising that the delegation discussed concrete actions that could significantly strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture if the discussions were fully executed.
According to the delegation, the US is particularly concerned about terrorist attacks in the North-East and the killing of Christians in parts of the Middle Belt.
Coup scare
With coups sweeping through several African countries, Nigeria experienced its own moment of political anxiety.
Sahara Reporters had on 18 October published a report alleging that 16 military officers arrested by the Armed Forces were involved in a plot to overthrow President Bola Tinubu. Premium Times later detailed how the alleged plot was being coordinated before security agencies intercepted it. The reports triggered anxiety within government circles and were cited as a reason the Presidency cancelled the traditional Independence Day parade scheduled for 1 October.
According to the reports, senior officials, including President Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Senate President Godswill Akpabio and House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, were allegedly marked for assassination as part of the plan.
Although the Defence Headquarters did not explicitly confirm a coup attempt, military insiders told Premium Times that the arrests were linked to intelligence about plans to destabilise the government. One source said the officers had fixed a tentative date for a takeover and were holding discreet meetings when the operation leaked.
A military panel was subsequently convened to investigate what authorities described as “indiscipline and breach of service regulations.”
Sixteen officers were initially detained, but more arrests were made as investigations widened.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M