As the Muslims faithful prepare for this year’s Eid-el-Kabir celebrations, ram dealers in markets across the country have bemoaned the low level of patronage due to the current economic recession.
In Ogun, Lagos, Ebonyi and Niger states, there have been reports from ram markets that dealers have been experiencing low sales of the livestock.
According to them, buyers have not been patronising them as expected, compared with the previous year, when people thronged the markets to purchase rams for the sallah.
The dealers, however, called on the Federal Government to find a solution to the problem by making sure that the Naira did not slide further against the dollar. Investigation by our correspondents revealed that many ram merchants have drastically cut down on their supply of the livestock due to the low patronage being experienced in their sales this this year.
Similarly, but unlike last year, there has been a reduction in the number of buyers thronging the ram market along Kara Opic area of the Long Bridge in the Berger area of Lagos.
At the Olomore, Abeokuta, Ogun State, ram market, only few buyers were observed by our correspondent at the market haggling prices with the ram dealers.
The chairman, Ram and Goat market at Olomore market, Alhaji Sufian Onifade, lamented that the traders used to spend on getting a full truck of ram could now only buy half of the quantity of the livestock.
“There is shortage because the money that we used to pay for fully loaded trailer of ram can only buy half load now. The Federal Government should work on our Naira so that it will not continue to fall against the dollar” Onifade said.
He said the prices of ram in the market, depending on its size, ranged between N20,000 to N30 ,000 and N40,000 to N100,000.
A buyer at the market, Idris Oladunjoye, who bought a ram worth N70,000 said that the same amount he had expended on the livestock was what got him two of the same size during last year’s celebrations.
He said, “The ram that I bought last year is cheaper compared with this year’s own. The money spent to buy a single ram this year got me two of this size last year.
The Chairman, Ram and Goat market in Sabo, Abeokuta, Alhaji Musibau Bello, told our correspondent that the economic hardship had negatively affected ram sellers due to the decline in the value of Naira against the dollar .
Bello added that the inability of the state government to pay the workers their salaries had made it difficult for them to purchase ram for the sallah.
He said, “Rams are very expensive now compared with the previous year; the cause of it is that there is no money. We had even thought that this year things would be better, but it’s worse compared with last year’s festive period. So, people are not buying rams because they say that the state government has not paid the workers”.
Yusuf Afunkun Adeniyi, a Client General Manager at American Express, disclosed to our correspondent that he and his brother had to contribute the sum of N140,000 to enable them to purchase three small rams unlike last year when he alone bought a big one for the sallah.
Adeniyi, however, expressed delight that inspite of the current economic hardship, Muslims in Nigeria were still striving to fufil their religious obligation regarding slaughtering of rams for the festival.
“We have always been hearing of the country being in recession many years back; so this current recession is not new to people again because they are still involved in one ceremony, event or the other. It’s just that, in a way, this recession has had a significant impact on the spending pattern of people towards the festivity preparation,” he said.
The National Amir of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria, Jameel Ismail, said that the recession had been so hard on people in general and had, therefore, affected people’s observance of the Islamic rite.
