This analysis applies a Systems Thinking lens to Nigeria’s Web of Crisis, a policy brief produced by the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER) following its December 2025 reflection session. The original document presents a qualitative systems map highlighting the interconnections among insecurity, unemployment, corruption, and the high cost of living. To advance the analysis, the NISER document was provided to ChatGPT, which was explicitly tasked with translating the narrative description and crisis “web” into a causal loop diagram (CLD).

On December 16th 2025, NISER researchers gathered for a Reflective Session on Nigeria’s current state, the multiple challenges faced by citizens, and the interconnections of these challenges. The purpose of the forum was to facilitate an open, informed, and solutions-oriented dialogue on how Nigeria’s multiple challenges intersect, considering also the sensitive context of an approaching election year, and its potential for escalating some of these challenges.

NISER researchers identified Insecurity, corruption, unemployment, and the high cost of living as the country’s most pressing and mutually reinforcing constraints, and this is exemplified in this brief.