Moghalu spoke at a lecture he delivered at the Golden Jubilee ceremony of the first set of graduates of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN).
He regretted that Nigeria’s economic performance did not reflect its endowments.
Moghalu said: “With a population of 170 million people, Nigeria is generously endowed with human, physical and natural resources. The country is ranked the sixth largest producer of crude oil and also has the sixth largest gas reserves in the world.
“It also has very significant reserves of solid minerals, which remain undeveloped. The country is richly endowed with about 34 different types of solid minerals in commercial quantities in about 450 locations across the country.
“Regrettably, Nigeria’s economic performance has been rather weak and does not reflect the country’s economic performance.”
The CBN chief averred that other emerging economies, in particular Malaysia, South Korea, China and India – which were behind or at the same economic pace with Nigeria in the growth of their industrial population in the 1960s and 1970s – have transformed their economies.
According to him, the Asian countries are not only far ahead of Nigeria but are major players in the world economy.
“Between 2005 and 2010, the average growth in industrial production for China, India, Brazil and Malaysia was 16.0, 8.0, 3.6, and 2.5 per cent, respectively; Nigeria recorded only 2.1 per cent,” Moghalu said.
The educational system in Nigeria, he stressed, faces enormous challenges “which need to be urgently addressed, if the country must evolve into a knowledge economy and attain its goals of economic transformation”.
The UNN Vice-Chancellor Prof Bartho Okolo said this year’s Founders’ Day celebration was unique.
He said some pessimists doubted the “need for the establishment of UNN at the time of its founding”.
Nigeria’s economic performance weak, says CBN chief
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