By Jonathan Ugbal and Patrick Obia
Cross River Governor, Benedict Ayade had on November 21, 2019 while presenting the 2020 appropriation bill before the state’s House of Assembly said the budget believed in “spiritual force” and had social agglutination.
Mr. Ayade who referred to the budget in the third person narrative had said: “The budget of Olimpotic Meristemasis is a budget that believes in the spiritual force which is the third energy.”
He had drawn applause, laughter and sighs from the House of Assembly members and other attendees when after reeling out the budget sum, paused, smiled and said amidst chuckles; “And the budget name is the budget of Olimpotic Meristemasis.”
He would explain that, “Meristemasis is the active growth of a young variant plant in extension, the state.”
Earlier, he had said: “In view of the progress made from the last budget, a new budget has been brought. Therefore, the budget of this year is NGN1,100,167,507.09 (One trillion, One hundred billion, One hundred and Sixty Seven million, Five hundred and Seven thousand and Nine and Kobo).
And, Checks revealed that what he referred to as “Meristemasis” was actually his derivative from meristematic tissues, a botanical term used to explain undifferentiated cells capable of cell division which leads to the provision of new cells filled with protoplasm for expansion and differentiation of tissues as well as the initiation of new organs, providing the basic structure of the plant body.
The word “meristem” was first used in 1858 by Carl Wilhelm von Nägeli and is derived from the Greek word merizein which means “to divide.”
Olimpotic on the other hand, is suspected to be a combination of Olympics, the sporting event and Lipoic Acid which is used for aerobic metabolism. Aerobic metabolism is simply the way or process which the body creates energy by burning fats, carbohydrates and amino acids in the presence of oxygen.
Furthermore, Ayade had explained that, “Olimpotic as it is, Meristemastic as it is, it is also having sociological agglutination. So, I believe that the budget of Olimpotic Meristemasis would catalyse into existence, a great opportunity for us all to put our hands and legs on the paddle and speed it off.”
“Sociological,” is an adjective which means that which is relating to, or is characteristic of sociology, which is the general science or study of the patterns in social relationships, interaction, and culture that surrounds everyday life.
“Agglutination,” on the other hand, which though a biological term simply means the unification or clumping together of particles or adhesion.
The budget was passed without fanfare and in reflective silence by the House of Assembly with the Governor assenting to it in a similar way on January 7, 2020.
However, his finance commissioner, Asuquo Ekpenyong jr announced an almost 87 percent cut in the revised budget on Monday.