Nigeria, Aug. 18 -- Across Nigerian universities, the sight has become almost predictable: fresh graduates, thrilled to have completed their final exams, flood campus walkways in white shirts and jeans, surrounded by friends armed with permanent markers.

What follows is a frenzy of ink-stained inscriptions, signatures, scribbles, caricatures, and sometimes vulgar comments written boldly across their shirts. For many, this ritual of "signing out" marks the beginning of freedom after years of academic struggle.

The culture, which began as a symbolic gesture of solidarity and camaraderie, has over the years taken on a life of its own. What was once a modest celebration has morphed into something more excessive, with some graduates now trea...