Nigeria is under severe strain. For more than a decade, insecurity has intensified while development outcomes have remained stagnant. Terrorism in the North East, banditry in the North West, a mix of both with farmer–herder violence across the Middle Belt, and criminality in parts of the South has compelled the state to allocate unprecedented resources to defence. At the same time, economic outcomes have deteriorated.
Poverty has deepened, real incomes have fallen, infrastructure gaps persist, and public confidence in governance continues to
