You can very well use printf along with sleep. An example of this usage is given below:

if ((fp=fopen(argv[1], "r+"))==NULL)
{
printf("Error: In reading File!");
sleep(1);
exit(1);
}

The above will print the error as
Error: In reading File!
and wait or delay for 1 second and then exit from the program.

Let me know how you have used so that I can help you more on this.