The 5 Stages of Procrastination Every Nigerian Student Can Relate To

Spoiler: it always ends in tears

May 23, 2025

Written by Miriam Onyemenam

We’ve all been there. The moment when your lecturer drops that assignment or announces the test date and for some strange reason, you decide now is the best time to rewatch old BBNaija highlights. Procrastination is real, my people. It’s like a shadow that follows you around, whispering sweet lies like, “There’s still time” and “You can start tomorrow.” But we know the truth.

So, let’s talk about the 5 stages of procrastination every Nigerian student knows too well.

1. Denial: "Assignment? What Assignment?"

Your lecturer has just dropped a bombshell in class: “Your next assignment is due in two weeks.” And what’s your immediate reaction? “Omooo, another assignment? Who sent me to do this degree thing?” You walk out of that lecture hall like you just got delivered bad news, but somehow, you shove the assignment at the back of your mind. After all, you’ve been living your best life up until this point, so why would you start stressing now?

“Shebi it’s two weeks na. I still have time.” You’ll deal with it after your nap, or maybe tomorrow or next week, once you’ve had your share of oblee over the weekend. Who needs to worry about an assignment that’s weeks away when you can just enjoy the present moment, right?

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2. Anger: "Why Did They Give Us This Stupid Assignment?"

Eventually, denial wears off. You can’t avoid it forever. The assignment is still there, staring you dead in the face and now, you’re angry. Furious, even.

You start complaining to anyone who’ll listen. “Why them go give us this kind assignment now? See, this lecturer is wicked. He made everybody’s parameters different so it’ll be all man for himself. Why must I suffer like this?” Your blood pressure is rising because you now realize that the deadline is fast approaching, and you still haven’t even opened the course material. You are wondering if this assignment was personally designed to ruin your entire semester. But guess what? It doesn’t change a thing. The clock is ticking, and two weeks will soon be up.

3. Bargaining: "Maybe I Can Do It All in One Day"

At this stage, you’ve realized the inevitable: there’s no escaping this assignment. The denial phase has passed, and your anger isn’t doing anything but adding to your stress. So now, you get into bargaining mode.

You start thinking, “I mean, I can do this in one night, right? I’ve done it before, so I can do it again.” You begin to plan your “strategic” approach. Maybe you’ll start at 10pm the night before the submission date. After all, sometimes the man doesn’t even collect the assignment till after the lecture. And if you don’t finish it that night, there’s always the next morning—or during the lecture sef. That’s the beauty of bargaining: you think you can make it work, but deep down, you know you’re kidding yourself. Still, it’s comforting for a while.

4. Depression: "Why Did I Even Come to This School?"

It’s the night before the deadline, and you are deep in the pit of despair. This is where procrastination has truly shown its ugly face, and there’s no escaping it. You’ve sat down in front of your laptop, eyes red from too many hours of trying to figure out this assignment.

At this point, you’re questioning your entire existence. “Why did I even come to university?” “Was it not Bill Gates that dropped out and still made it?” Every second feels like you’re losing your mind, and you wonder how you even got here. You’re now typing at speeds even Usain Bolt couldn’t attain with half your brain screaming at you to just submit whatever, and the other half knowing that’s a terrible idea.

5. Acceptance: "I’ll Just Submit This and Hope for the Best"

Finally, we’ve reached the acceptance stage and no, it’s not the serene, calm acceptance of life. It’s the stage where you’ve come to terms with the fact that nothing you do at this point will save you. You did all you could the previous night and you woke up early to continue but your laptop is not as active as you are. With limited battery life, you decided to save whatever it is you’ve done so far and send the document to your print guy.

There’s no more fighting it. You know you will submit rubbish, but now all you can do is pray that the lecturer is in a good mood while marking your script and for the universe to show mercy on your CGPA.

At the end of it all, procrastination is a tricky beast. It will always find you when you least expect it, and maybe you’re the problem because you fall for it every single time.

But guess what? You’re not alone. We’ve all been through the five stages and lived to tell the tale. Now, let’s just try and start early next time shall we?

Which stage did you relate to the most? Tell us in the comments.

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