By Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
Perhaps, the last Sallah would count as one of the bleakest to be celebrated in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. Though the Muslim faithful joined their counterparts across the world to celebrate occasion, the fun was scorched by inflation, petrol scarcity, epileptic electricity supply, low purchasing power of residents and insecurity.
The celebration might have come and gone, but ram dealers, grocers and others are still counting their losses. Most of their wares remained largely unsold because of inflation and consumers’ weak purchasing power.
Ram dealers expectedly top the chart. They had flooded various parts of Abuja with the intent of making bumper sales, the reverse was actually the case. There were too many animals available for sale than the extremely few buyers.
Dutse, Kubwa Phase 2 Junction, Apo and Area 1, Nyanya, were overwhelmed with rams but very few buyers. The rams were sold for between N150,000 and N400,000. Buyers lamented that there were lots of rams but the traders doubled the prices for indescribable reasons.
Danjuma Aku, a resident of Dutse Alhaji agonised: “I have visited different markets to see if I can get a ram for Sallah. I even went back to the market after prayers, still it didn’t work.
“The prices are too high despite the fact that there are lots of them in the market. The traders have doubled the prices forgetting that there is no money in circulation.”
Abdul Razak, a civil servant said: “The whole streets of Abuja have been flooded with rams. You don’t need to go to the market before you buy any. But when you go close, the prices will send you back. Most of us have been using our eyes to buy since our pockets can not afford it.”
Muhammadu Saleh, also a civil servant: “Yes, it is a festival of sacrifice but it is not only ram that one needs to buy, there are other necessities. If I use the whole money on ram, what about other things?
“I have been moving from one market to the other to see if I can get it but it is not possible due to the price. I have made up my mind to wait till after the Sallah prayers then I will come for mine. Then, there will be no rush and the traders will be forced to lower their prices.”
Mallam Aliyu Mustapha, a resident of Maitama agreed that the prices were astronomically high but he managed to get one. He added that though the prices were doubled compared to what he bought last year, he blamed the scathing situation on general inflation ravaging the country.
Mustapha Hussein, a ram seller at Dutse Junction, Kubwa, claimed:
“There is not much profit in this business. We doubled the prices because of the season. The cost of transportation and feeding is very high and we vaccinate them. Before you are done, you end up not getting anything reasonable.”
Another seller, Usman Kabir from Kubwa phase 3, blamed the high cost of the animals on the general economic situation in the country. He said everything was now expensive and rams were no exception because the breeders also sell them to meet other needs.
Yunusa Abdullahi, a seller at the Dutse Market, said: “The hike in fuel prices caused everything. The cost of transporting these rams from very far places in the North to Abuja today has tripled compared to last year’s. Only transportation runs into millions not to talk of other expenses attached to it.
“There is not much profit in this business now because of the high prices of goods and services. It is affecting us even the sellers.”
Cow dealers are also not spared from the sad tales. Alhaji Mamo Biu said: “A cow sold at N800,000 is now about N1,000,000 and more.
The transportation fare for trucks of animals this year is exactly double of what it was last year.
“The charges and levies are the reasons for the rise in prices of rams and cows. We do not have any choice other than to sell at the rate we can.
“The main cause of the inflation is the high cost of diesel, even though it has affected the level of patronage. Customers are not patronising us like before.
“The animals on the ground shouldn’t be this many by this time. People are not buying.”
A visit to grocery shops shows that there was not much increase in prices of other foodstuffs.
Some of the traders confessed that there was not much boom in sales despite the fact that there was no relative increase in prices in staple foods like rice, beans, yams and others.