Eid-el Kabir: Ram sellers lament low patronage in Ogun

 Some ram sellers in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Area of Ogun have expressed concern over low patronage of buyers, ahead of the forthcoming Eid-el Kabir festival.

The ram sellers stated this known in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Ota, Ogun.

Mr Musa Abdullahi, a seller at Toll-Gate ram market, Sango-Ota, attributed the low patronage to the current economic situation in the country.

Abdullahi said that they had to pay N5,000 on each of the rams to transport them from Kano to Lagos.

“We have to add the transport fares and the money used to feed them to the cost price before they are finally sold to customers,” he said.

According to him, a big size of ram goes for between N150,000 and N180,000, while a medium size goes for between N90,000 to N100,000.

Abdullahi also said that the price of smallest size of ram sold for between N50,000 and N70,000.

He said that they had hoped that things would turn round for better this year, as they made more sales in 2020.

Abdullahi appealed to the Federal Government to intensify efforts in tackling the security challenges so that the prices of rams could reduce next year.

Also, Alhaji Sule Mohammed, a ram seller at Ijako market, said that the low patronage could be attributed to economic hardship in the country.

Mohammed said that they paid through their nose for transportation before bringing the rams from Niger Republic to the country.

He added that the high cost of living had also affected the cost of feeding the rams, coupled with the fall in the value of naira.

“To be frank with you, the prices of ram this year are much higher compared with those of last year,” he said.

Mohammed, who said that he had been in the ram business for a long time, added that the situation this year was quite different.