Several checks by the message international.blogspot.com at some markets in Lagos confirmed that most traders are now redundant at their various stands as intending buyers only come and leave without buying any ram as they're beyond the reach of the common man.
One of the buyers at Abattoir, Oko Oba, Agege, Lagos, Alfa Abdul Azeez Kewudola told us that the price of an average ram this year us between N40,000 and N50,000 as against last year where an average ram of the same size was sold for N30,000 while the big rams range from N100,000 to N235, 000 depending on the sizes.
'Rams are in short supply this year the way I see it. And that's why the prices are on the high side which also informed the reason most people can't afford them. As u can see, a lot of us here came to buy rams, but the prices are too high. And the sellers are not ready to bring down the prices. That's why you see most of us turning back. But the issue is that the prices are almost the same everywhere I have visited today. So, I don't think I can afford any of the big sized rams I usually kill for sallah. And I don't want to wait till last hours because the way things are now, there is no likelihood of the prices coming down before the festival. "
One of the sellers, Mallam Adam Shuabu who also spoke to themessageinternational.blogspot.com explained the reasons for the hike in the prices of rams this year, "There's nothing we can do on the prices of rams this year. We sell at the rate we also buy. The exchange rate is also affecting our business. The economy is still very poor.
Also, the security situation in the country is still nothing to write home about. Not all these animals we bring to Lagos are from the north, most of them are from outside the country. So, that makes them more expensive than people think. And to rear them to this stage is a lot of work. More rams are still coming, and that's a matter of days. I am sure we will sell everything, ibsha Allah.'
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