Business

Eid-el-Kabir: Ram sellers lament low patronage in Ilorin

 

…As big costs N200,000, small N30,000

By Matthew Denis

Barely two weeks to the Eid-Kabir celebration, prices of rams have remained high, just as sellers lament low patronage in Kwara State.

A survey by Pilot Business at ram markets showed that there is an increase of about 50percent in the price of various sizes of the animal compared to previous years.

Findings showed that that the prices of small, medium and big rams are now higher when compared to last year.

The small, average and big rams this year are selling for N30,000, N50,000, N70,000, N150,000 and N200,000 as against N30,000, N40,000 and N80,000 respectively in 2017.

Some of the sellers who spoke to our reporter attributed the price hike to the prevailing economic situation in the country and insecurity in the northern part of the country, where the rams are being reared.

A seller, Kabiru Massah said,”As a result of the growing insecurity in the northern part of the country, from where we get rams we now go as far as Niger Republic and to source for them.

“The cost of transporting them from outside the country accounts for the increased in the price of rams this year,” he explained.

Another seller, Alhaji Isiaka Sani said “we have started experiencing low patronage due to the economic meltdown but we are optimistic that things will change gradually.

He appealed to the state and federal governments to ensure early payment of salaries so that civil servants can be able to purchase rams for sallah celebration.

Sani also implored government at all levels to encourage livestock farming in order to make them affordable.

The Kwara State Chairman of Rams and Goats Sellers Association, Alhaji Abdullahi Suleiman popularly known as ‘World Best’, however, appealed to the state government to provide necessary infrastructure at various markets.

He said, “You can see the rain will fall on us and the rams but if the state government build a bigger market it will be better for our business.

“We are also calling on government to fix our deplorable roads because most of us travel far to buy these rams.”

 A prospective buyer, Alhaji Adams Maina who spoke to this medium at the Mandate Market decried the high cost of rams.

He lamented that the hike in price of rams would deny many Muslims the opportunity of slaughtering ram for this year’s Eid-el Kabir celebration.

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