Cross River State governor, Professor Ben Ayade, on Thursday presented a N277 billion 2021 Appropriation Bill to the state House of Assembly.
Out of the total sum of N277 billion in the budget proposal tagged ‘Budget of Blush and Bliss’, N192, 511, 985, 550 or 67 percent of the entire budget was earmarked for recurrent expenditure while N88, 196,500, 00 or 33 percent, is for capital expenditure.
Presenting the budget, the governor explained that it was people oriented, hence the 67 percent allocation to recurrent expenditure to meet the immediate and physical needs of Cross Riverians in the aftermath of the COVID 19 and #EndSARS conflagrations.
Ayade explained, “I decided, along with my executive council, after due consultation that the budget of this year will focus more on the humanitarian perspective.
“We have decided to shift focus from infrastructure, from big projects and refocus on the people. So this is the people’s budget, a budget that for the first time we are shifting from infrastructure, from major projects, from all the big dreams and projects that can actually create opportunity to focus on the very essence of existence, hunger and poverty”.
This budget takes care of unemployment, takes care of the issues of security consistent with the provisions of the Constitution in section 14 sub Section 2.”
“We have decided to focus so much on Agriculture, youth Employment, Social housing and youth skill development,” he stated, adding that it will create a lot of opportunities for Cross Riverians.
The governor further stated that the budget has a provision for the establishment of a neighbourhood security watch which will deal with issues of neighbourhood protection and create many jobs for youths.
Elucidating more on the provisions in the budget, he stated, “The extension of NYSC is adequately provided in the budget to ensure our young graduates do not despair upon leaving camp.
“We have also made adequate provisions for agriculture to ensure that all young people who study agriculture upon leaving school move into the agricultural sub Sector by providing for procurement of equipment , clearing of land and supporting our people with funds for agricultural inputs”
The governor told the House that the 2021 budget also factored in scholarships and bursaries for young Cross Riverians.
“We have decided to reactivate the elders council , the youth forum and to see how we can finance and encourage school programs , we’ve introduced scholarships and bursaries, we have introduced all of these that appeals to young people so they can see that this is their government”, he maintained.
Explaining the christening of the budget, Ayade said: “Blush because it is a thing of shame of where we are coming from, blush because we are going through a situation where our face is red and in pain, it is blush because we are coming away from our big dreams of kinetic crystallisation, from our olimpotic agenda and reducing ourselves to a consumptive effort just to reflect the mood of the times.”
He also sympathised with every Cross River resident who suffered any form of loss during the arson and vandalisation that happened in the state.