Eid-el-Kabir: Prices of rams rise in Lagos

Few days to the Eid-el-Kabir, prices of rams and goats have continued to skyrocket in Lagos, theNews Agency of Nigeria reported on Sunday.Some buyers, who spoke in separate interviews with NAN in Lagos, lamented the high cost of rams slaughtered by Muslims as part of the ritual to mark the Eid-el-Kabir.NANchecks at the markets indicated that the prices of rams ranged from N30,000 to as high as N150,000 as against N20,000 and N80,000 during the festival in 2010.A school principal, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, said the situation forced him to settle for only one ram against three he usually slaughtered for the festival.I have no option but to settle for only one this time because of the high cost of rams, he said.A civil servant, Mr. Abiodun Oladosu, said the prices of rams were far above his savings.I have to look for extra money to be able to buy my choice as the price of the ram was too high, said he.He said what compounded the situation was the absence of any price control mechanism moderating the annual sale of the rams.Mrs. Afusat Alatishe decried the high cost of the rams but was however optimistic that the price would come down before the festival proper.Reacting to the complaints, the Chairman, Ram Sellers Association, Iganmu, Lagos chapter, Alhaji Haruna Usman, blamed the high cost of the rams on inadequate supply from the northern part of the country.He said the five trailers received by the association so far fell short of the 13 received at this time last year.Usman said insecurity resulting from the activities of Boko Haram, especially in the northern part, was responsible for the low supply.Other factors, according to him, are the high cost of transportation, animal feeds and taxes paid to the Lagos State Government for the use of public spaces to sell the rams.
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