Eid-el-Kabir: Rams, food prices rise as traders bemoan low patronage

July 6, 2022

As Muslim faithful prepare for the Eid-el-Kabir celebration in the country, prices of goods needed during the festivity have risen up in the last few days, The Star has observed.

Eid-l-Kabir is a yearly religious festive celebration where Muslims across the world celebrate slaughtering animals, particularly rams as a religious sacrifice seeking reward from Allah.

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This year’s Eid-l-Kabir has been slated for Saturday, July 9 which is equivalent to 10th Dhul Hijja 1443 AH.

Marketers in Kano told The Star that despite the biting economic situation prices were not likely to reduce.

A visit to livestock markets in Kano revealed that prices of animals such as rams, cows, and camels remain higher in comparison to the same period last year.

In major animal markets visited in Kano metropolis, The Star observed that the prices of rams have shot up to between 60 and 100% in comparison to last year’s prices.

A medium-sized ram, which cost N30,000 in 2021, is now going for N50,000 while the large-size ram of N150,000 has gone up to between N300,000 – N400,000 this year.

At the popular Yanawaki animal market in Kano, one of the ram sellers identified as Malam Bala said the animals were available but buyers were not forthcoming like on previous occasions, adding that the prices range between N50,000 for medium sizes and N400,000 for very big rams.

“Honestly, if you want a good ram for Eid this year you should have from N50,000 to N60,000. These are medium-sized and good rams, but if you need big rams, then you need from N100,000 to N400,000,” Bala said.

At a Kofar Na’isa ram spot, Musa Hassan said several customers had been visiting to price the rams but only a few bought.

“We understand that it is a difficult year and many people are accusing us of hiking the prices of rams, but they have to understand that it is not our fault,” he said.

On his part, Abubakar Gwarzo said as a struggling husband and father, he decided to join other less privileged friends to buy a cow or camel and share, although they were also not inexpensive.

Although rams, cows, and camels were seen in different locations in Kano State, the prices were not friendly to the common man which necessitated many poor and average buyers coming together to jointly purchase and slaughter cow or camel as it was relatively cheaper than rams.

However, the rising cost of animals has been making the alternates in cows and camels become cost-prohibitive to the downtrodden.

Salihu Ahmad said he was not sure their dream of sharing a camel with his friends would succeed due to the prices they encountered in the market.

He said: “A modest camel that we thought we will get less than N200,000 is now more than 250,000. Things are scary. We have to go and get money to add to what we have but if we can’t, then we will look for alternative even if it is in chicken.”

At Kofar Na’isa Animal Market, small to medium size camels go for 180,000 -N230,000, while bigger camels sell up to N800,000 -N900,000 as sellers said camels have not been this expensive.

Similarly, prices of vegetables such as tomatoes, pepper, and onion have skyrocketed in Kano markets.

In the largest Kano Yankaba market, sellers told The Star that multiple factors accounted for the rises in prices.

Malam Garba, whose busy stall supplies different sorts of vegetables, said: “Two months ago, price of a basket of tomatoes was N15,000 but now it is N30,000 or less depending on the product’s quality. A sack of fresh pepper used to sell 25,000 or less but now costs 28,000 – 30,000.”

Another seller, Mal Musa said a jumbo size of 100kg onion now costs between 19,000 – 23,000 against the previous price of 12, 000 – 13,000 a few weeks ago.

Mal Ado Ali said the skyrocketing of the prices may not necessarily be connected to the forthcoming Eid Kabir celebration.

“With or without Sallah by this time goods usually go up. They’re expensive because Kano products have finished and we supply from Plateau, Zaria, Katsina, and other places,” Ali stated.

The Star observed that across all markets visited in Kano as prices shot up, patronage was down especially non-essential commodities to the Eid-l-Kabir celebration.