Nigeria, Oct. 22 -- On the last Saturday of July, parents, teachers and pupils of Megaliy International School gathered at the Apo Resettlement Town Hall in Abuja for the school's end-of-session and graduation ceremony.

For Mrs Kuburat, a parent at the school, the celebration came with an additional bill of almost N100,000. Three of her children were graduating at different levels. She said the school charged N20,000 for the child leaving nursery school, N25,000 for the one completing Junior Secondary School and N50,000 for the child finishing Senior Secondary School. Even in years when none of her children graduated, she said she paid N10,000 for each child towards the school's end-of-session ceremony.

The payments reflect a broader co...