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Bleak Sallah awaits many Muslims across the country as the festival is holding a few days to a new academic session.
Findings show that many Muslim parents
have opted for low key Sallah celebrations and will prioritise their
children’s education and payment of their tuition over merriment and the
buying of rams.
Many of the Muslim faithful, who spoke
to our correspondents, said they would be celebrating the festival
indoors with their families because of paucity of funds and hike in the
prices of goods.
For instance, in Akure, Ondo State, the
average lowest price of ram is N30, 000 as against N10, 000 in 2015 at
around the same time.
One of our correspondents reports that
the prices of some food items have increased by over 100 per cent as a
bag of rice that was sold last year for N10, 000 now costs N21, 000.
A federal civil servant, Mr. Tunji
Adeniran, said he would not buy rams for the festival because doing that
would affect the payment of his children’s tuition.
He said, “We have not been paid salary
for August and I have no money in reserve. But even if I get paid before
Monday, I will use the money to pay for the school fees of my children
who will be resuming next week.”
Another resident of Akure, Alhaji
Muritala Olabisi, said for the first time as a family man, he would not
be buying rams for Sallah celebration.
He said, “I only intend to go to the Eid praying ground on that day and return home to my family.
“It is very unfortunate that we are
experiencing a period like this; this has never happened to me before.
Life is so tough for the people. The little money I have now cannot be
spent on celebration. In few days from now, schools will resume and I
have to pay my children’s school fees.”
In Lagos, the story is the same as many Muslims also lamented the effect of the economic situation on their finances.
A ram that cost N50, 000 in the metropolis around Sallah period in 2015 now costs about N80, 000.
A resident businessman, Alhaji Akanni Yusuf, who bought two rams for Sallah in 2015, said he would not be buying any this year.
Yusuf said his priority was paying his children’s tuition, which was over N350,000.
“By this time last year, I had bought
two rams at the rate of N45,000 each, clothes for my children and the
house had been stuffed with drinks, but I have decided not to buy
anything because of the economic situation and my financial
obligations.”
“My three daughters will be resuming
school a week after Sallah. Their new tuition is N350, 000. This is
apart from books and other materials they will need,” he said.
Muslims that are civil servants in Osun
State said Sallah would be celebrated in low key due to the financial
challenges facing the state and its people.
The Chairman of the Osun State wing of
the Nigerian Union of Teachers, Mr. Wakeel Amudah, told one of our
correspondents in Osogbo that although the state government paid half
salary for June, many teachers would not get anything from their
salaries because their banks would have deducted all of it to service
their loans.
He said, “I have not bought any ram now.
I don’t know how it will be done. So I can tell you that the
celebrations will be low key in Osun State.
“The half salary for the month of June
has been paid but the money is not leaving the banks because many won’t
get a dime from it. The banks would have used the entire money to
service the loans taken by workers.”
Traders, Mrs. Moriyeba Jamiu and Mrs.
Fatima Olootu, said they were not making any preparations for the
Sallah, adding that there were more pressing issues to spend money on
than the festival.
Against the background of current
economic challenges in Nigeria, many Muslim faithful in Katsina State
said Sallah celebrations would be low key this year.
Many Muslims, who used to slaughter the
symbolic rams during the annual festival, told one of our correspondents
that they would not buy rams this year.
It was observed that many ram traders
had relocated from the popular ram markets at Mayardua, Mashi, Dankama,
Charanchi and Batsari to major streets in Katsina city with a view to
getting more patronage.
However, despite their efforts, the ram traders said they were recording low sales.
One of them, Salisu Yesufu, said he sold
average of two rams weekly, adding that many people have been
complaining about paucity of funds.
A parent, who is a civil servant, Mallam
Musa Funtua, said, “We cannot afford to buy any ram because of the
situation in the country. But for Muslims, buying rams for Sallah is not
compulsory and people should not borrow money to do so.”
When one of our correspondents visited
the ram market in North Bank, Makurdi, a ram dealer, Ibrahim Sule, said
the customers had been complaining about lack of funds.
He added that after much haggling over the prices of rams; customers would turn around and leave.
Alhaji Adam Musa, a beans seller, said,
“Economically, the situation is not encouraging; spending during this
period is hard. Last year, the economy was better and you know that
schools will be resuming and children will be returning to school. So,
even me, I will not buy ram this time but use the money with me to pay
my children school fees.’’
Another Muslim, Abba Bello, said a week
to Sallah last year, he had bought more than three rams but lamented how
he was unable to buy any this time around due to the economic crisis.
Bello, however, appealed to the government to breathe life into the economy.
In Kwara State, many Muslims also
expressed concern that the Sallah celebrations would be bleak as a
result of financial constraints and high prices of rams and food items
like rice, onions, and groundnut oil.
A civil servant in the state, Alhaji
Bolaji Ajibade, claimed that this year’s Sallah would be the worst that
he would experience.
Another Muslim, Alhaji Muyideen Ishaq,
said he had decided to kill two chickens to celebrate Sallah with his
family since he could not afford to buy a ram.
He said he would only visit the praying ground and return home to his family on Sallah day.
Also, Alhaja Simbiat Ambali, said she
would only cook for her immediate family as against her previous
practice of cooking for extended family members and friends since she
could not afford such lavish merriment.
She also said she would not take her
children to fun centres so as to save some money to buy their school
uniforms and pay part of their school fees.
Investigations by our correspondent in
Ilorin revealed that small sized rams now sell for between N40,000 and
N50,000; medium sized rams go for between N65,000 and N70,000; while
big sized rams sell between N120,000 and N140,000 as against last year
when small sized rams could be bought at a price between N25,000 and
N30,000; medium sized ram (between N35,000 and N40,000); big sized rams
(between N50,000 and N60,000).
In view of the harsh economic crisis in
the country, Muslims in Delta State said this year’s Sallah would
witness a low-key celebration.
As of Friday morning, many Muslims in
the state said there was no hope they would cook, let alone kill any ram
to mark the event.
Our correspondent, who visited the ram
market situated along the Benin/Effurun Expressway and the Effurun
market in Uvwie Council Area of the state, observed a significant rise
in the prices of goods and food items.
The situation was not different at the Igbodu market in Warri South.
A bag of rice which sold for N12,000
this time in 2015 now goes for N22,000. A gallon of palm oil now sells
for N2,000 as against N1,200 six months ago.
A Muslim cleric and a store owner at
Igbudu market, Alhaji Musa Sadiq, said, “I know many people with
numerous problems. Nigerians only feel the impact of government policies
during celebrations. Prices of foodstuff have gone up. The non-payment
of workers’ salaries has made things difficult for those of us
celebrating.”
Chairman, League of Imams and head of
the Muslim community in Delta State, Mustapha Ahmed, also said this
year’s Sallah celebrations would be low-key.
Also in Kaduna, the traditional title
holder of Ciroman Laduga in Kachia, Kachia Local Government Area of
Kaduna State, Alhaji Ibrahim Bayero, lamented the effect the economic
crisis will have on this year’s Sallah celebrations across the country.
Bayero noted that he used to buy a ram
for his aged mother for Sallah, but regretted that he could not afford
such luxury this year.
He said, “There will be no celebration at all; the situation now really shows that people are suffering.”
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