OLAKUNLE MARUF and IMOLEAYO OYEDEYI report that the cost of rams in the market has hit the roofs for several reasons, just as buyers are only be able to buy what they could afford, not what they actually wanted.
As Muslims all over the world prepare for this year’s Eid-el-kabir festival which comes up on Tuesday and Wednesday, a couple of factors seem to have conspired to take rams, one of the major items of the celebrations, out of the reach of the ordinary Muslim faithful.
In the Northern part of the country where most of the animals are transported to the rest of the country, the major livestock markets are not booming. The effect is further felt in other parts of the country as both sellers and buyer haggle over costly prices that have not been experienced in years past.
Findings by Sunday Tribune in Sokoto State revealed that business is slow for most of the traders as many of them complained of low patronage. At Illela international cattle market, located at the border town between Nigeria and Republic of Niger, some of the traders interviewed ascribed the low patronage to high prices of rams and insecurity.
According to Abdullahi Audu, a cattle dealer at Achida cattle market who spoke with our correspondent, the prices of ram, goat, sheep and other domestic animals have increased astronomically because of insecurity as few farmers could only bring their anials to the market. He said the increment, coupled with insecurity, had affected the number of rams sold on a daily basis as buyers are wary of travelling down and not being able to purchase enough rams as they would have wished owing to the high cost.
“I can categorically tell you that most of our customers who come from Lagos, Ibadan, Kwara and other places in the South could not show up due to the high level of insecurity being witnessed across the country.
“The high rate of kidnapping on the highways and increasing cases of banditry in almost every village in the country are some of the major constraints we are battling with. Bandits and cattle rustlers invade villages, kill our people and make away with their animals.
“Some of the herders who use to bring these animals to us have been killed while others were dispossessed of their animals by bandits. We appeal to the federal government to urgently look into the issue of insecurity,” he disclosed.
Also speaking, Mallam Yahya Sani, who sells cows at the same market, described the situation in the market as the worst in history he can recollect. He called on government at all levels to look into the situation, as ordinary citizens are finding it hard to survive.
“You can imagine a civil servant or small scale business owner who only earns between N50,000 and N70,000 a month attempting to buy a ram that goes for of N80,000. How can he afford it?
“Prices of food items are going up every minute in the country, while government folds its arms doing nothing to checkmate it.
“People cannot go to their farms; they can’t travel from one state to another for their needs and when you try to stay at home, you still don’t have rest of mind.
“It is high time we sat down as a nation and collectively look at the situation we have found ourselves to proffer lasting solutions. We certainly cannot continue like this,” he stated.
A customer, Mrs Khadijat Salami, in an interaction with Sunday Tribune described the current market prices of rams as disappointing and annoying. Khadijat, a trader from Osogbo in Osun State, said the situation was not encouraging. She lamented that with the situation of things, she might go back without making any purchase this year.
Khadijat said she has been patronizing Illela market for close to 20 years and things have never been this bad. She described the situation as unpleasant not only to the traders but also for their customers who will definitely find it hard to pay the high price.
“Even if we decided to buy at this price, how do we convince people at home to pay, knowing full well that things are hard for everyone there?
“It is not just easy my brother, before now someone with a little budget especially the low income earners can afford to buy a ram for between N20,000 and N25,000.
“To even raise that N25,000 now is not easy, not to now talk of an average ram that now goes for between N40,000 and N45,000. We actually don’t know what to do with the situation of things as it stands now, but we will survive,” she said.
Another customer who claimed she was from Ilorin, Kwara State, Mr Kola Ilori, described the market situation as worrisome.
Mr Ilori described the prices of ram as high but said it was not going to discourage him from buying some rams. He said his plan was to buy an average ram at the cost of N25,000 but would need to adjust his plan.
“I had it in mind to get an average ram at the rate of between N20,000 and N25,000 but had to change my mind when I got to this place.
“I have to call my people back home to inform them of the change in price and they are all aware of the situation. It is just a pity that one has to squeeze himself to get things done at this time.
“It is getting too much at this time. People are complaining about the current situation of things in the country. I appeal to our government at all levels to come to the aid of the masses. This is not about ram alone; food is expensive, including pepper, grains, among others,” he appealed.
Sellers lament
At the popular Bodija market in Ibadan, Oyo State, a ram seller, Nurudeen Usman, also attributed the hike in the price of the rams to persistent inflation and growing insecurity.
“The rams were expensive at the place where we bought them. And then the cost of transporting them down has also increased from what we usually pay. We had to spend close to N700,000 to bring the rams here last week.
“Even as we were coming, robbers attacked our lorry. They whisked away some of the rams. Some of us who had 100 rams in the trailer couldn’t get up to that number when we were counting them here last week. Even the robbers killed two of my colleagues who tried to confront them with knives. The robbers also took away our bags where we keep our money. So we had to include all these costs in the price for each ram, so as not to run at a loss,” he explained.
Usman’s brother, Abubakar Sani, who also spoke with Sunday Tribune, said that in addition to the twin evil of inflation and banditry, the price of the rams’ feeds has also gone up, citing this as another key determinant of the cost of each ram.
When asked why some of the rams looked malnourished, Sani explained that despite their relatively high price, the feeds that they consume are very scarce because rainfall hasn’t been consistent in the North like it used to be.
“That’s why we couldn’t get adequate feed for the rams as we ought to. This is also why we have now increased the price of our rams. The ram used to sell for N20,000 but now goes for N50,000. People that have been coming have complained that the prices are high, but we have to sell what we bought,” he added.
Ambali Tianmiyu’s countenance when Sunday Tribune spoke with him revealed that the day hadn’t been cheery. However, unlike rams seen at Sani and Usman’s stalls, those at Tianmiyu’s yard looked well-fed which ironically did not attract buyers.
“People have been coming but sales have not been impressive because people kept complaining about the cost. But there is no way they won’t be. We have big rams and we have small ones; it all depends on how much one is willing to spend. As you can see, my rams are neat and fat. They cost me a huge sum of money to make them appear this way. So there is no way their price won’t be high,” he argued.
Explaining some of the factors that have triggered the increase in the price of rams, especially in the South-West, he said: “You know that the rams were brought from the Northern part of the country. And due to the rising spate of insecurity, people from the South-West are scared of going to the North to get the rams. Except for a few of us who have summoned the courage to travel this month, what most people in the South-West now do is to bring out the rams they have been keeping and nurturing for months.
“Even the Northerners too are scared of bringing their rams down South. We know how they used to troop in here with their rams during festive periods like this, but it is a lot different now as we have seen only few of them around.
“Even the Shasha incident is still part of the things discouraging them from coming down as they fear another violent crisis may break out and result in mass killing of their cows and people. And anytime the Northerners sparingly bring their rams for sale here as it is now, the price of the available rams here usually goes up, as the supply won’t match the demand in any way,” he explained.
For Adeyemi Abioye, also a ram seller, border closure was the reason behind the high cost of ram as according to him, “some of the rams being sold in Nigeria before were imported from Niger Republic, but the closure of the (Nigerian) border put an end to that. So we have to make do with the few we raise here in Nigeria which are not enough for the market demands.
“Otherwise, there would have been a surplus of rams, which will make them cheaper. In some years back when the government allowed rams to be brought in here, the rams we sell for N90,000 was between N40,000 and N50,000,” he said, adding that “the prices of the feeds we give them have also shot up. We usually buy a bag of feeds for N2000, but now, it’s between N5000 and N8,000 depending on their qualities. That is why some of our people couldn’t get to feed their rams well. But I ensured I fed mine well, because I want to sell them at appreciable prices.”
With just 48 hours to the celebrations, many faithful may still be making last minute adjustments in their pockets to buy only the rams they could afford. For those whom killing a ram was mandatory, it is a matter of cutting their coats according to their cloths.
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