AS Muslim faithful prepare to celebrate eid-el-kabir, one of the most important core areas of their faith, sellers of rams and cows have continued to dot every nook and cranny in Lagos with their wares.The merchants in the sale of ram who are predominantly men and women from the northern part of the country are already displaying their wares from Iganmu under bridge in Costain, Apongbon on Lagos Island, Ojota before the toll gate to Agege in Ikeja amongst others to attract the attention of Muslim faithful.It has also become a common site to see virtually every articulated vehicle coming into Lagos at the old toll gate which serves as the major entry point to the state from the North, to be loaded with rams and cows of all shapes and sizes.Eid-el-kabir, also known as Eid-el-Adha or "Festival of Sacrifice", is an important religious festival celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son, Isma'il, as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a ram to sacrifice instead. A ram, goat, sheep, cow or camel is sacrificed, the meat is divided into three parts, one part for the family to eat, the second part of the animal is donated to the poor. The third part of the animal meat is cooked and shared with friends, neighbours and relatives. This Muslim festival is celebrated on the tenth day of Dhul-Hijjah, the last month in the Islamic calendar which will be on the 6th of November, 2011.Besides the frenzy of sales of rams and cows for the commemoration of the special day in the annals of the Muslim calendar, tailors in the state are also at one of their busiest periods of the year, as they are working from morning till late at night to sew new garments for Muslims who want to celebrate the festival in new clothes.However, Nigerian Tribune investigation has showed that, the period is to be celebrated with mixed fillings, as most faithful are already complaining that, although it is germane to commemorate the day with the slaughtering of rams, the situation on ground; the harsh economic condition in the country is making many of them to have a rethink as to a slaughtering ram when they don't have the means to do so. So in preparation for this year's festival, ram and goat sellers are located in major areas of Lagos State. A visit to one of the ram selling points at Iganmu witnessed low patronage for now as the prices of rams are high. Speaking on this development, the secretary of the ram market, Alhaji Haruna Usman, said that there was low patronage for now because most people were willing to buy now that but they didn't have where to keep them.'He said that the condition of the market was not conducive for the animals even as the ram sellers most times lost their animals to poor environment. Most of the rams are very dirty from the muddy ground while the rain is a cause of worry for the trader as they trade in the open place.'Most of the traders eat, bathe, urinate and sleep in that same dirty environment,' he said.According to him, 'we want to partner with Lagos State Government to provide us with that place permanently so that we can develop the area to make it conducive for us.'Regarding security, the Seriki of the market, Alhaji Yohoza Mohammed, said that, 'Every festival when we have large turnout of buyers, we normally pay the police to help us guard our sellers to avoid armed robbery and unnecessary molestation from jobless agbero who normally come around to steal and extort money from our customers that come to the market with their cars. The market is made up of traders selling different animals such as chicken, goat, ram and cow while other service providers like lotto, tea sellers, food, water and provision sellers are also found in the ram market at Igammu and other ram markets located in Lagos.Meanwhile, as Ileya festival is fast approaching, the demand and supply of rams, which is the symbol of the festival is on the increase in Ibadan, capital city of Oyo State. This is due to various selling outlets which have sprung up in the city. These outlets are in some cases, traditional ram selling points, known for bubbling activities during the eid-el-kabir festival.Interested buyers need not go to the kera or points where they could buy their choice rams because they could make their choice by the roadside. Lately, however, this traditional phenomenon has become a source of concern for government, residents, motorists and other road users in the city.A walk round Ibadan metropolis shows that, though unlike before, these sales points still maintain their traditional features-rams and other animals were left to wander on the roads carelessly.At Aleshinloye, one of the ram sellers, who pleaded anonymity, said they were being careful not to leave their rams on the streets to cause road traffic or accident. He said, 'You can see that our rams are kept beside the road and not on the road as it is done in the main city.'Despite denying that they occupied the main road, Nigerian Tribune noticed that their inability to occupy the main road might not be unconnected with the rehabilitation work going on the road.At the other places visited by the Nigerian Tribune, apart from those on the highway side, the rams sellers and their rams still encroached on the road, thus, leaving the roadside users to a situation where they would have to manoeuvre whenever the shepherd and his herd of rams were passing by.Also, the low patronage, attributed to high cost of rams and low patronage from the state's political class, has been attributed as reasons for the low activities being experienced at ram outlets in the state.Sulaimon Daura has his stall around the Aleshinloye Market and said that the low sales had not helped in having busy schedule around the stall. He said, 'There is no point to block the road here, as in past years, we had heavy purchases from some politicians, they used to come and buy in large quantities but this year, we've not seen them. It's like paucity of funds is affecting them.'On selling on the roads, another ram seller, Ismail Akilapa, said this could be attributed to high demand during the festive period and the fact that some people who were not originally into ram selling, but had, for one reason or the other to be on the Northern route, used to buy and create temporary space always located beside the roads to attract passers-by.From Lodge Street along Molete axis to Bodija, Ojoo, Sango, Olomi, Eleyele, Apata, Aleshinloye market and other areas in the city, rams are now on display for interested buyers, but the question is, for how long will these dealers continue to inflict pains on road users'Nigerian Tribune learnt that nobody could trace how selling rams by the roadside began, but investigation revealed that it all began due to high demand for rams by the people.That, it was gathered, led to other Northern route business people to venture into ram business during eid-el-kabir season. And as time went on, the act became uncontrollable to the level that some people who were not registered ram sellers even reared rams to sell on yearly basis. Thus, it became difficult to control how people put rams and goats by the roadside during the eid-el-kabir festival.Some motorists, though pleaded anonymity, disclosed to Nigerian Tribune that it was high time the government did something about the sale of rams by the roadside. They argued that government should not wait until disaster struck before taking a decisive step. Others also suggested that government should centralise locations for rams' sales.'I am a Muslim and it is not only rams that we use to celebrate the festival, so why is it that we cannot control how people sell it. Peoples' lives are at risk but because it has not involved a notable person we feel it has not claimed victims. The government should come out to do something about it,' said a man who came to buy ram but did not want his name in print.Because of low patronage, Nigerian Tribune learnt that some ram sellers are now fond of engaging their rams in lock-horns, placing bet on them. An act, which has also added to the heavy traffic already caused by the illegal sales' points.
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