Ram Sellers Lament Effects Of Insecurity

Some ram sellers in Lagos on Wednesday said that security challenges in northern part of the country and high cost of transportation had almost ruined livestock business in Nigeria.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that most of the livestock were now coming from Niger Republic instead of the northern part of the country known for livestock rearing.

The ram sellers were reacting to complaints of high price of rams ahead of the Muslim festival of Eld- el-Kabir scheduled for next week.

Mr Ahmed Amah, the leader of ram sellers at Apongbon on the Lagos Island, said that levies by councils and market unions had not helped the situation.

Amah said ram sellers would have preferred to sell at lower price, but the other factors would not allow it.

“We want to sell at cheap price because cheap price will bring more customers, but the cost of transportation from Niger Republic is too high.

“We pay N3,000 to transport a ram from Niger Republic to Nigeria.

“I spent N180,000 to transport 60 rams to Lagos and also paid some charges before I could bring  the rams into the market for sale.

“All these charges always lead to the higher price of rams or any other livestock during festivals,” he said.

Mr Uthman Yusuf, another ram seller in Isolo, said that security challenges in some parts of the north had made it difficult for traders to bring more rams to the south.

“Currently, it is more expensive to bring in a ram from the northern part of the country than neighbouring countries.

“The high cost is not caused by the sellers, but by these other factors.

“In Lagos, you don’t bring in your product and display it without having to pay one form of levy or the other.

“If you take the product to unauthorised place, the product will be confiscated by the state government,” Yusuf said.

At the Apongbon, a medium-sized ram is being sold for between N55,000 and N65,000, while a big one goes for about N80,000.