Sallah: Nigerians lament hike in price of ram, foodstuffs

Different market surveys conducted by NAN correspondents in various states of the federation on Sunday, showed that the situation is similar in Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Edo, Kaduna, and Borno.

Other states where traders and customers have expressed their dissatisfaction with the high prices include Yobe, Kaduna, Kano, Zamfara, Bayelsa, Katsina, Lagos Oyo and Ilorin.

Muslim faithful traditionally sacrifice rams during the Eid-el-Kabir Festival, but the surveys revealed that the inflated prices made it more difficult for people to afford it.

Apart from price hike of rams, the rising costs of food commodities have also contributed to the financial burden faced by many Nigerians.

On the other hand, ram sellers are bemoaning low patronage despite the high prices which they attributed to the affordability issues faced by potential buyers that led to decreased demand.

The combination of increased prices and low patronage has created a challenging situation for both buyers and sellers, affecting the festive spirit surrounding the Eid-el-Kabir celebration.

The price increase is also attributed to factors such as the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government; the high cost of transportation of goods from the hinterland to the cities; unavailability of cash in circulation; as well as inflation in the country.

Muriana Balogun, a ram seller in Ikare-Akoko, Ondo State, said sales had been low and not encouraging for a few days to the Eid-el-Kabir celebration.

Balogun, who attributed the high cost of rams to subsidy removal, said that the prices of livestock were lower in 2022, compared to 2023.

“Now, prices of rams vary. Some go for N100,000, N250,000 and N320,000, respectively, depending on the size, while the least one is N50,000,” he said.

Abdullahi Abubakar, another ram seller at Shasha Market, Oba-Ile, Akure, still in Ondo, said that selling prices are determined by cost price and the cost of transportation from the northern part of the country.

“It is not our fault; we are only selling based on the cost price of the rams we bought because transport fare is a bit higher now. People are not coming to buy like other years due to the price.

“We did not increase the prices arbitrarily. We are still hopeful that people will come to buy before Sallah,” Mr Abubakar said.

However, some traders mentioned that prices had already gone up prior to the removal of fuel subsidy, attributing it to arbitrary increases by vendors rather than the fuel subsidy removal.

Muslim Adewale, also a ram seller in Ikare-Akoko, Ondo, said the price of ram was now almost double when compared to what it was sold in 2022. He, however, blamed some vendors for increasing the price arbitrarily.

Adewale, who said that subsidy removal should not result in high prices of food items, urged ram sellers, particularly those who are Muslims, to sell their animals at affordable cost during Eid-Kabir, as part of good deeds in seeking God’s blessings.

He said, “The size of ram I bought last year for N60,000 is now being sold between N95,000 and N110,000.

“I doubt if the high cost is due to the fuel subsidy removal. The cost of transporting a ram from Kano to Ikare cannot be more than N10,000. As at last year, it was between N5,000 and 7,000.

Also, Christiana Ologunde, a rice seller in the same market, stated that a 50kg bag of Nigerian rice was sold at N28,500 in 2022, while the 25kg bag was sold at N14,000, while the same product is now sold for N36,000 and N19,000 respectively.

Ologunde, however, said that the fuel subsidy removal had no pronounced effect on the commodity, noting that” prices had gone up before the fuel subsidy was removed”.