Nigerian food vendors in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, have continued to record a boom in their businesses after the completion of 2017 pilgrimage.
The vendors are Nigerians residing in the Holy Land.
They sold white rice and beans or spaghetti with soup; tuwo shinkafa, semovita and amala with okra, kuka or vegetable soup.
They also sold cow meat, cow legs, fried chicken and fish. Others were Hausa local foods like fura, kunu, dambu, danwake, among others.
Some of the food vendors said they recorded high sales from pilgrims since the commencement of the pilgrimage and after the Hajj.
A vendor, Mrs Maryam Abdullahi, said she sold a plate of white rice with soup and half chicken at six Saudi Riyals, while tuwo, semovita with chicken or fish was sold for seven Riyals.
”Sometimes I can make sales of over 600 Riyals daily because I prepare foods during lunch and dinner,โ she said.
Most of the pilgrims preferred to buy local delicacies because it was cheaper and it suited their taste.
Muhammad Rabiu, one of the pilgrims, said even though state governments had provided food for them, he preferred to buy local food from such vendors.
โState governments provide pilgrims with breakfast and dinner, but I buy lunch from such food vendors daily,โ he said.
