By Tony Edike

Central  Bank Governor, Dr.  Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, warned, yesterday, that the current civil unrest  in some countries in North Africa could be experienced in Nigeria if the nation’s leadership failed to explore the enormous potentials that abound in the country.

Sanusi gave the warning  even as President Goodluck Jonathan disclosed that the Federal Government’s approval for the citing of six new universities in the six geo-political zones of the country was to give the youths opportunity of having access to tertiary education and by so doing explore the potentials inherent in them.

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

He expressed concern over the failure of the nation to take full advantage of the available potentials for economic development.

His words: “This is a country we must always have hope not out of pity but because it has great potentials to be realized. 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 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’ll remove this country out of poverty and be the China of Africa. This is not going to be done to us by the Chinese or the Americans but 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.

Sanusi was however hopeful that by the time the right things were done, the country would emerge a global giant in the foreseeable future.

In his speech, read by the Minister of Education, Prof. Raqquyatu Ahmed Rufai, Jonathan said his administration was committed to giving the youths of the country a pride of place, expressing optimism that the new universities would commence academic activities at the shortest possible time.

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

According to them, the UNN now ranks 3rd in Nigeria, 54th in Africa and 5,176 in the world because of the commitment of the administration in taking the school to greater height.