Tunde Adebayo still remembers the moment he lost faith in Nigeria’s university system. It was his third year at the University of Lagos, and for the second time in his academic journey, a nationwide strike had brought his education to a grinding halt. "I felt like I was stuck in limbo," he recalls. "No classes, no certainty—just endless waiting."

For students like Tunde, Nigerian universities were once the gateway to success, promising world-class education and a future filled with possibilities. In the 1960s and