By Adewale Sanyaolu
There are strong indications that this year’s Muslim Sallah celebration may be blighted by acute fuel scarcity, insecurity and the astronmic cost of rams across many states of the country.
With fewer filling stations dispensing fuel across Lagos metropolis and neighbouring states in the SouthWest for instance, commuters are already lamenting a sharp increase in the cost of interstate transportation services which is some cases have exceeded the 35 per cent mark.
Some transport operators who spoke to Daily Sun in separate interviews lamented the high cost of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol.
A transporter at Pen- Cinema in Agege who shuttles Lagos to Ibadan said they had to increase transport fare to N4,000 from N 2,500 in order to break even having bought product from black market vendors to petrol at the cost of N200 per litre.
The situation was the same at Iyana-Ipaja and Berger Motor parks where transport fare have equally increased.
A commuter at the Pen-Cinema motor park who identified himself as Shakrullah Adesina, said he came to enquire about transportation fare for his family, in their Ibadan country home, said he may be forced to celebrate Sallah in Lagos due to the escalating fares.
‘‘To transport myself and five members of my family will be too much a burden on me. I don’t think I have such resources to spend on transportation alone not to talk of feeding while in Ibadan. If they are charging this much for a one-way trip, what will happen on my return leg?
Another commuter at the popular Berger motor park, Kazeem Olabiyi, said he and members of his family may foreclose plans to travel to Osogbo, Osun State, unless the state government declares a free train ride from Lagos.
He explained that he has enjoyed the free train ride in past years from Lagos to Osogbo, adding there are rumors that the free ride may be cancelled this year, hence his reason to explore travel ling by bus which has now become a day dream with rising transportation fares.
Meanwhile, the cost of rams across various markets have skyrocketed as sellers lamented about low patronage. At the popular Kara ram market, a medium seized ram which sold for N100, 000 last year now costs about N150,000 while large sizes cost between N200,000 and N300,000. The situation was not different at the Meiran and Mangoro ram markets.
Some buyers who spoke to Daily Sun said they are at crossroads because the cost of the animal alone has gulped over 70 per cent of their budget for Sallah celebration.
A buyer at the Meiran ram market, Mr. Sule Ajadi, said he had planned to buy two rams with a budget of N200,000, but said he may end up with one because of the cost.
For his part, a popular ram seller at Kara market, Alhaji Yisa Kabiru, blamed the high cost of diesel for the high cost of rams. He said transporters of ram from various parts of the North have increased what they hitherto charged for transportation cost. He added that the number of security checkpoints have equally increased, stressing that these checkpoints are mounted to extort drivers.