As the Sallah celebration which is popularly called ‘Big Sallah’ is fast approaching, ram vendors at the Kara exit of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway bemoaned poor sales on Friday, blaming them on the current economic climate and the sudden rise in the price of transporting the animals from the north of the country.
Additionally, some buyers complained to our correspondents that ram prices had increased, saying they might not be able to kill rams for the holiday as a result.
At the well-known Kara market near the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway in the Obafemi–Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, where our reporters spoke with some of them, many Muslim adherents bemoaned the decreasing likelihood that they would be able to procure rams to kill as the festival day drew near.
Abdulrazaq Ibrahim, a vendor, claimed: “I get my rams from Adamawa State. The amount I used to transport them last year was N600,000, but this year it is N1.6m. Due to this, the amount from last year, which was N90,000, has increased to N170,000 this year. The cost of bringing these rams here from the North is the reason they are so expensive this year and not many people can afford them.”
I don’t think the subsidy removal caused this increase, according to another seller, Awwal Abdullahi. Last year, I sold over 1,500 rams to high-ranking government officials, but this year, I’ve only been selling two or three a day, which makes me unhappy.
“I purchase my rams from Yobe State, and I pay N500 per ram for carrying them, but the price has increased to N950 this year. A contributing factor is the Rams’ size. I paid N1m to carry them last year, but this year the price is N1.8m. My RAM starts at N300,000.”
According to Kunle Moshood, the industry was impacted by the high cost of fuel because transporters demanded more money per ram.
The sellers claimed that the price increase was to blame for the disappointing sales.
Customers bemoaned the Rams’ rising price in the meantime.
For privacy reasons, one of the buyers preferred to go by the name Oluwagbenga. He claimed that the cost of rams was currently double what it was the year before.
“It’s surprising that each ram I purchased last year cost N80,000,” he remarked.
Due to the outrageous prices of ram, I only came to the market today to purchase one. When I arrived in Kara, the price had significantly increased because the vendor had informed me that he could only sell the item I had purchased for N80,000 last year for N300,000 after haggling for N350,000.”
He continued by saying that President Bola Tinubu’s decision to eliminate fuel subsidies, which had also worsened inflation, was to blame for the price increase.
He continued, “I don’t think the subsidy has changed the prices; is it a ram subsidy? Even if it’s getting high, it shouldn’t be more than N100,000.”
“I came from Ikotun and I encountered gridlocks,” Sade Adelowo, another customer, affirmed Oluwagbenga’s assertion. When I first arrived, I was astounded by the Rams’ prices. Surprisingly, I begged to get the size of ram I purchased for N60,000 last year for N100,000 this year.”
Many of the buyers and sellers urged the federal government to take swift action to address the hardship brought on by the removal of the fuel subsidy.
