Fawaz Adebisi & Sodiq Mojibola
As Muslim faithful prepare for Eid-el-Adha, some ram traders have lamented that goats seem to have become people’s financial choice as the price of rams is skyrocketed.
A visit by PLATFORM TIMES to a ram market in Olomore, Abeokuta, Ogun State, shower that the faces of ram sellers were not friendly .
Findings by PLATFORM TIMES showed that while some ram sellers hardly sell two rams per day, a goat seller explained that she sells at least 10 per day, indicating the rate at which people go for low cost animals that are qualified to be killed for the festival.
Most ram sellers, in their words, believed that the removal of fuel subsidy led to the sudden increase in ram price as most of them complained of spending double of what they used to when transporting rams from the north to the south .
A ram trader at the market,Hakeem Ilyasu, also lamented that he hardly sells two rams in a day since the announcement of fuel subsidy which he said affected the cost of transportation.
He added that the people were no longer buying big rams, but, instead, buying pocket friendly small rams.
“Even when they come, they eventually buy a ram of N75,000 to N80,000, whereas, I have more rams of N130,000 and above to be sold,” said Ilyasu.
Ilyasu, who explained that he imports rams from the North: Kano, and Niger states, stressed that he spent over N1.7m to transport his rams this year, regretting that he spent N500,000 for the same trip last year on transportation.
“There are rams, we have a lot of them, but there are no sales because they are expensive, if we calculate the cost of transportation and the real price of the rams together, they become too expensive.
“There is a huge difference in the price because as at last year, I used a trailer to import my rams from Kano to this place for N450,000 to N500,000, but now, I spent N1.6m to N1.7m now,” he said.
Another ram seller, Abideen Babawale, lamented that he hardly makes up to five sales per day, adding that buyers were not willing to spend much on rams this year.
In his words, “I have N130,000 ram, and there’s N80,000 ram, it depends on the capability of the buyer, but people are not coming out to buy.
“They prefer buying N80,000, N90,000 ram, when there are rams of over N600,000 available for sale.”
He explained that instead of buyers looking at how big a ram is to make them buy, they look at their pockets and go for what they are capable of.
He said “the rams are different sizes, but, people buy the smaller ones, saying they have many other things to use their money for .”
In contrast to the low sales of rams, speaking with PLATFORM TIMES, a goat trader in the market, Kabirat Sodunke, also lamented the low turn up of buyers at her store but confessed that she makes sales than ram traders.
Sodunke said she was used to selling at least 20 goats per day now sells 10 goats a day.
“Right now, I make only up to 8 or 10 sales per day, compared to last year when I would have sold up to 20 to 25 goats in a day, even suppliers would have been moving up and down to resupply us.
“The hike in transport fare caused this, we want the government to help us ease the petrol price, ” Sodunke begged .
“People who don’t want their pot empty will kill goats, or those that can’t afford ram would also kill goats, but sales are not really coming in,” she said.
One of our correspondents who visited a ram market in Owode Elede, Lagos, observed that some buyers chose to buy bigger goats instead of small rams.
A buyer who preferred to be anonymous explained that a bigger goat would serve his large family of nine as well as visiting relatives and neighbours.
He disclosed that he bought his goat at N90,000 while the smallest ram he bargained for was N80,000.
“Look at the size of this goat and compare it to that small ram. The ram is too small, it cannot be enough when we kill it for sallah,” the buyer explained.
The seller, who identified himself as Abbey from Ogijo, lamented that sales have been drastically affected by the hike in price of rams, which took effect from the fuel subsidy removal.
Abbey explained that he was forced to order bigger goats as buyers refused to buy big rams due to high cost.
He added that the big rams cost N180,000 and above while the big goats were obtainable from N80,000 to N150,000.
He said, “I raise my rams at my farm in Ogijo, but I had to order big goats from my friends who come to sell goats here from Kano.
“Ram is expensive, I cannot force my customers to buy expensive things, so I provide the option of big goats for them.”
… Ram, Goat Sellers Want Reduction In Fuel Price
Ram and goat sellers have jointly called on the government to find a lasting solution to the high price of fuel.
Ilyasu emphasized on the need for the reduction in the price of fuel.
He said, “What I think the government can do is to help reduce the price of fuel, there’s no way it won’t affect our sales.
“Animal feed too is expensive. Before, it was N5,000 but now, we buy at N7,500, and that’s even from the north.” He lamented.
Corroborating Ilyasu’s submission, a goat seller, Baba Wale also called on the government to review the cost of petrol, stressing that it is being sold at different prices without regulations.
He said, “we want the government to help review the fuel price. In Abeokuta, it’s N500 to N550, while in the North, it’s sold around N600 to N700 naira per liter.”
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