By Ibrahim Kado
Gombe – Barely 48-hours to the Eid-el Kabir, ram sellers in Gombe have decried low patronage by Moslem faithful.
A check by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in some of the markets revealed that there were many rams but there were no buyers.
The Chairman Animal Dealers Association, Bogo Market, Malam Bala Sallau, told NAN on Saturday that the customers were not patronising unlike what happened in 2015.
Sallau blamed the situation on the current economic situation in the country.
He said that the prices of ram had dropped, adding that a ram of N70,000 in 2015 now goes for between N45,000 and N50,000.
The ram seller also said that those which sold for N40,000 had dropped between N30, 000 and N35,000 depend of the size.
According to him, the prices is not much but because of the poverty some customers cannot afford to buy it.
He called on government to empower civil servants to alleviate poverty in the country.
Also, Malam Abubaka Yellow, Secretary Animal Dealers Association, Pantami Animal Market, said that a week before then, the prices of the rams were higher.
According to him, a ram which sold at N60,000 before the period has come down to N50,500, while a ram of N30, 000 is now sold at the cost N25,000.
Similarly, he said a smaller ram which cost N20,000 could sell at N15,500 and attributed the decrease in the prices of the rams to lack of money.
Malam Adamu Usman, another dealer at the Chechenya animal market in the metropolis, said that most of the customers want to buy the rams few days to Sallah.
Usman said the dealers had many unsold rams at the market, and said the level of patronage was not encouraging like in 2015.
He said that they were facing a lot of challenges, especially as they had spent alot in buying animal feeds.
According to him, the rams that will normally cost N40,000 to N50,000 have dropped between N35,000 and N38,000, with a possibility of increase at the dying minute of the festivities.
Alhaji Bello Mabel, one of the customers, confirmed that the prices of rams were cheap, depending on the size of the ram compared to 2015.
He, however, said the prices varied from one market to another in the same Gombe metropolis.
(Edited by Felix Nwadioha)