Nigeria, Jan. 2 -- By mid-2025, Nigeria's security situation had drifted far from the early wins of President Bola Tinubu's administration. What unfolded instead was a year defined by jihadists' infiltration from the Sahel, the re-emergence of mass abductions, and a controversial international episode involving US President Donald Trump that exposed the fragility of Nigeria's counter-terrorism diplomacy.

Taken together, these developments tanked the gains the Bola Tinubu government had achieved since it came into power in 2023. The developments also show that insecurity remains Nigeria's number one governance challenge.

Perhaps the most alarming security trend of 2025 was the growing sense that Nigeria's northern frontiers were more por...