Nigeria, June 8 -- With the annual West African Examination Council (Waec) examinations coming to an end last week, many senior secondary school students who partook in the exams descended into debauchery in the full glare of onlookers and the relentless scrutiny of social media.

The pictures are all over the internet. Wild dancing resembling orgies, school uniforms battered by markers, and loud, amorous behaviors that were as repulsive as they were reprehensible were in abundant supply.

What one sees at first glance is a generation that has lost touch with the gravity of the challenges before them, the need to take their future seriously and the overriding imperative to be circumspect, respectful, and prudent. In a country where pruden...