President Goodluck Jonathan

The Central Bank governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, warned Saturday that the current civil unrest in some countries in North Africa could be experienced in Nigeria if the nation’s leadership failed to take full advantage of the enormous potentials that abound in the country.

This is coming against the backdrop of the federal government’s approval to site six new universities in the six geo-political zones of the country, which is meant to give youths access to tertiary education and by so doing, exploit the potentials inherent in them.

Speaking shortly after receiving an honorary doctorate degree in Business Administration, at the 40th convocation ceremony of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Sanusi said that Nigeria was blessed with abundant potentials, which if properly harnessed would “astronomically” improve the nation’s socio-political and economical development.

“This is a country we must always have hope on, not out of pity but because it has great potential to be realised. Universities are the conscience of the nation and a whole lot of potentials are developed here.

“We therefore need to take full advantage of these potentials because if we don’t, what we are witnessing in Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt will happen here.

“We have oil and gas, but we import energy; we have large land resources, but we import food; we have been number the one producer of cassava in the world, but we import starch; we have a large cotton belt, but we import textiles from China; we have hides and skin, but we don’t have the necessary industry to develop it.

“By addressing each of these areas in a well structured and articulated manner, we will move this country out of poverty and be the China of Africa. This is not going to be done for us by the Chinese or the Americans.

“We are the ones to do it. We don’t need to treat this country with despair and despondency, but with hope and ambition,” he stated, adding that by the time the right things are done, the country would emerge a global giant in the foreseeable future.

In their separate speeches at the convocation, which witnessed the presentation of honorary doctorate awards to Rear Admiral Allison Madueke and Mr. Cletus Ibeto, the Vice Chancellor, Pro-chancellor and Chancellor of the University, Prof. Bartho Okolo, Prof . S. O. Igwe and Alhaji Shehu Idris respectively, all confirmed that the school had recorded enormous achievements in the past years.

According to them, UNN now ranks third in Nigeria in the local university league, 54th in Africa and 5,176th in the world as a result of the commitment of the administration to take the school to greater heights.