The abundance of unsold livestock in markets and streets over the last few days showed that many Nigerians could not afford Eid-el-Kabir’s sacrifice.

An economist, Mohammed Madawaki of the Department of Banking and Finance, University of Maiduguri, expressed the view in an interview with journalists on the telephone.

He said, “This year, rams and cows are everywhere, but people simply cannot afford them. That’s why many sellers are still stuck with their animals.”

Mr Madawaki noted that a few years ago, an average-sized ram was sold between N100,000 and N150,000.

He regretted that the prices of rams and other livestock had gone too high, making it harder for an average family to afford.

“Today, the prices are so high that it has become a luxury; it is not that people don’t want to buy, it is that they can’t,” he said.

The economist urged the federal government to do more to support the agriculture and energy sectors.

He said such support would help to bring down the cost of rearing animals and make them more affordable.

“When agriculture is subsidised, farmers and herders won’t spend too much to feed and raise their animals.

” Also, energy prices affect everything — from transporting livestock to running businesses. If we can reduce these costs, prices will come down, and people can buy more,” he added.

Musa Adamu, a livestock seller at the NEPA Bus Stop livestock market in Ejigbo, Isolo Egbe Road, Lagos State, also described the prices of rams and cows as very high.

He said many people who used to buy whole rams resorted to buying parts, and some bought goats or even chickens instead.

According to Mr Adamu, small rams are now sold between N200,000 and N400,000, while medium-sized ones cost between N450,000 and N600,000, and large rams sell for N600,000 and above.

He said that some big rams sold for as high as N1.2 million.

Balogun Aielegun, a businessman, told journalists in Lagos that he could not afford to buy a ram for Eid al-Adha this year, but he teamed up with four of his friends to buy one for N500,000.

“I didn’t get enough meat to share with my family, friends and neighbours because this is a celebration we could not ignore providing the meat; we just did our best,” he said.

(NAN)