Sallah: Ram sellers, buyers groan; price rises to N180,000

Barely a week to the Eid-Kabir celebration, ram sellers in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Tuesday expressed concern over the low patronage by buyers even as the price of the animal rose to as much as N180,000 in some parts of the metropolis.
A survey revealed an astronomical increase in prices, with the sellers and buyers lamenting the harsh environment which prompted the price increase.
At the Bodija market, Liberty Road and other major selling points visited, a big ram was sold for about N180, 000 while the smallest cost N25,000.
The cost of a goat, however, was between N15,000 and N45,000, depending on the size.
Kazeem Afolabi, a ram seller, that there was indeed low patronage and attributed it to the current economic crisis and unpaid salaries of workers.
Afolabi said that the same size of ram billed for sale at N180,000 now was sold for N80,000 in 2015.
He attributed the high price to the rising cost of transportation, saying, “the cost of transportation last year was N2,000 per ram, while it is N4,000 this year.”
The ram seller was, however, optimistic that patronage would improve if the state government could urgently address the issue of non payment of salaries.
A civil servant, Mr Tajudeen Wasiu, said that with his indebtedness, he could not contemplate buying of ram.
“The money that will be left from my salary after paying my creditors cannot be enough to buy a ram or a goat,” he said.
He, however, prayed for God’s intervention to ease the hardship posed by the recession.
Also, prices of rams have gone up‎ as sellers groan under low patronage in Minna, the Niger State capital.
At the Turaku Ram Market, a significant rise in the price of various sizes‎ of the animal was noticed compared to last year.
A spokesman for the ram sellers, Alhaji Mohammed Garkuwa, said that small, medium and big rams now sell at higher prices when compared to last year.
“The small, average and big rams this year are selling at N30,000, N50,000 and N150,000 as against N17,000, N35,000 and N80,000 respectively in 2015.
“‎The high prices this year can be attributed to the increased cost of transporting these rams from Niger Republic where we buy them,” he said.
One of the ram sellers, Malam Bala Sani, revealed that customers were only coming to negotiate prices without buying‎ them.
“People have been coming but most of them only bargain without buying. ‎People are crying that there is no money.
“But they must understand that we didn’t buy them cheap, ‎so there is nothing we can do really but pray things improve in the coming days,” he added.
Another seller, who identified himself as Nura Garba, said that unlike in 2015 where an individual could come and buy between 10 and 20 rams‎, none had done such this year.
Hajiya Laraba Guni, a prospective buyer, lamented the high cost of the rams, saying she only came out to inquire about the prices before taking a decision.
“I am only here to find out the prices and then I would go back home and decide. But from the look of things, my household may not enjoy the luxury of eating ram this year.
“But I have to go home first and work it out to see if buying the rams will be realistic given the exorbitant prices,” she said.
Other buyers expressed hope that the prices would fall when more rams flood the market in the coming days‎.
Many ram markets have sprung up on major roads in Minna, resulting in a traffic gridlock.