Prices Of Food Items, Rams Soar As Eid-el-Kabir Approaches

As the Eid-el-Kabir celebration is fast approaching, prices of food items and rams have been on a steady increase.

One of the major characteristics of the Eid El Kabir celebration is the slaughtering of rams in line with the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son, who was replaced with a ram.

It is a busy season for ram sellers as they were seen in different parts of the FCT, trading the animals, during which intense negotiations were ongoing in an attempt to convince prospective buyers to purchase the rams at a given price.

During a chat with some ram traders at the ram market in Gwagwalada and along Kubwa Expressway in Abuja, they lamented low patronage as rams that sold for between seventy thousand naira to two hundred thousand naira last year, now sells for as high as one hundred and fifty thousand naira to one million naira.

They attributed the hike in price to insecurity, high cost of feeds and transportation in the country.

Also traders of grains and perishables in Karmo, Gwagwa, Utako, Wuse and Garki Markets in the Federal Capital Territory also decried low patronage as a bag of rice now sells for between seventy to seventy five thousand naira, while a small basket of tomatoes sells for fifteen thousand naira.

Some buyers who spoke with Kapital FM in the markets visited expressed concern over their inability to purchase what they needed for their household and the Sallah celebration and urged the government to intervene in the economic situation bedeviling the country.

They equally called on the government to regulate prices to afford the common man an opportunity of a good life.

Umbwanko Baba, Edited By Grace Namiji