Sombre Eid
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Nigerian Muslims mark a gloomy Eid al Adha as millions are unable to afford festive delicacies due to fuel price hike
Millions of Nigerian Muslims are marking a gloomy Eid celebration as the removal of the fuel subsidy has led to rise in the cost of food items.
Mutton one of the delicacies enjoyed by Muslims during Eid is out of the reach of ordinary celebrants according to ram sellers at the Kara end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway who lamented low sales, blaming the low patronage on the prevailing economic situation and the sudden increase in the cost of transporting the animals from the northern part of the country.
Buyers and sellers on social media complained that ram prices had gone up, lamenting that they wouldn’t be killing rams for the celebration.
At the popular Kara market along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in the Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, where many Muslim faithful moaned that the possibility of them getting rams to kill was becoming slimmer.
A seller, Abdulrazaq Ibrahim said, “I get my rams from Adamawa State. Last year, I transported them with N600,000 but this year it is N1.6m. That is why the one of N90,000 last year has increased to N170,000 this year. The amount we spend bringing these rams here from the North is the reason they are so expensive this year and not many people can afford them.”
The sellers said the increase in the price was responsible for the low sales.
Meanwhile, buyers lamented the increase cost of the rams.
A buyer said, “It’s surprising that last year I bought two rams and each cost N80,000. Today, I came to the market to buy just one as I have heard the outrageous prices of ram. On getting to Kara, it has really increased as the seller told me he could only sell what I bought for N80,000 last year for N300,000 after haggling from N350,000.”
He added that the spike in the prices was as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu which has worsened the prevailing inflation.
“I don’t believe the subsidy has affected the prices, is it a ram subsidy? Even if it’s getting high it shouldn’t be more than N100,000,” he added.
With a low key celebration unfolding, many are calling on the new administration to look into the untold hardship caused by the fuel subsidy removal.
Akowe with reports from Lagos
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