Barely two days to Eid-el-Kabir, ram sellers in Zaria, Kaduna state have continued to groan over low patronage and sales.
A survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in the ancient city shows that ram markets in different locations of the city are experiencing low turnout of customers.
A ram seller at Veterinary, Kofar Doka, Zaria, Malam Nasiru Aliyu lamented that people only came to enquire about the prices without buying.
He attributed the low patronage to lack of money and non-payment of August workers’ salaries by the state government.
Another ram seller at Tudun Wada, Malam Isyaku Muhammad, said that the prices of the rams range between N25,000 to N125,000.
On his part, Alhaji Datti Mai-Rago at ‘Yan Azara market, Tudun Wada lamented the low sales but expressed optimism that the market would pick up, noting that some prefer to buy “a day to or on Sallah day’’.
However, Malam Ali Gwamnati, a ram seller at ‘Yan Awaki expressed satisfaction with the level of patronage but complained that the ram were not many compared to last year.
Reacting to the low patronage, a prospective buyer, Malam Nuhu Muhammad-Tukur bemoaned the exorbitant prices when compared to previous years.
Muhammad-Tukur attributed the development to low supply of the animals as a result of many factors, especially civil unrest in the Northeast and Northwest of the country.
“People are willing to buy but high cost of ram had become a source of concern to customers. Again, the ram are not supplied in large quantity as before.
“This can be attributed to so many factors such as civil unrest in some places like Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto states as well as Niger Republic.
“All these places used to be major suppliers of the ram on annual basis, but as it is today, most of the villagers of these areas have now become refugees in other places,” he said. (NAN)
