1. Study: Success is achieved through hard and smart work. Anyone aspiring to succeed academically must be ready to do the job of studying. It goes beyond what is expected of every other student, go out of your way to make more research and learn more in the process. Make use of the faculty/departmental and university libraries to get more advanced than your course mates.

2. Take assignments seriously: Some students (especially freshers) do not know that every little assignment, project, class work culminates in the final result of the semester. So they pay little attention to these only to become serious right before exams (when it is too late). A smart student who wants excellence is always prepared, thanks to studying and taking assignments seriously.

3.Understand your lecturers: You see, it’s not just about having the brains, you must also be smart enough to understand your lecturers individually. Trust me, lecturers in Nigeria can be crazy. Each of them have their own style of teaching, expectations, demands, concerns, demeanour, etc; it is left for you to figure all this out and manipulate them to your advantage. If he says ‘buy my book, it is compulsory,’ by all means buy the book because the list of those that bought it is surely going to be used. If the attendance list is important to him, make it extremely important for you to make the list every time. And so on…

4. Ward off distractions: They come in many forms, shapes and sizes: friends, foes, hostel mates, etc. They may not be doing it consciously but that does not take away the fact that it all amounts to distraction. So be disciplined enough to know when to break free from unnecessary discussions, activities to return to what matters most – academic work.

5. Let setbacks inspire you: Let it not be the other way round. The moment you allow a setback mess with your inspiration and motivation to excel, that is when you begin to lose what you can achieve. Sometimes to be successful means experiencing some setbacks here and there. Let these push you to keep gunning for success and not failure. When the success comes it will be sweeter because you achieved it against all odds.

source: http://sunmyke.com/5-sure-success-keys-undergraduate-nigeria/