In 1980s rural Nigeria, where broken schools stretch across sun-scorched, dusty, rural towns and villages, sixteen-year-old Tunji “TJ” Adekunle dreams of a future he can barely imagine. Brilliant, volatile, and trapped by poverty and violence at home, TJ knows there is only one way out: pass the English Language WAEC exam – the gateway to university education and a life beyond survival.

But passing is nearly impossible. His public high school is comatose. His parents can barely afford his fees. His textbooks are borrowed, stolen, or copied by hand. Worse, the politicians meant to protect the future have long since sold it off, leaving decaying classrooms and unpaid, frustrated, cynical teachers in their wake. When Kike Ayodele, a defiant, rebellious, young teacher arrives, TJ glimpses a fragile hope. Rejecting the privilege of her powerful political family, Kike chooses to fight for the forgotten by preparing her students within a system conditioned to destroy them.