Sallah: Dealers in food items groan over poor sales

Bags of rice

Dealers in food items in Hadejia, Jigawa have expressed concern over low patronage, with just a few hours to the Eid-el-Fitr celebrations.

The Eid-el-Fitr is marked on the first day of ‘Shalwal’, in the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.

The day marks the end of the 29 or 30-days of fasting, observed by Muslims in the ‘Ramadhan’.

Investigation at the Hadejia market showed that prices had gone up by over 100 percent, as against what was obtainable within the same period, last year.

Checks indicated that a measure of maize and millet were sold at N300 each, as against their old price of N150.

The local varieties of rice and beans were sold at N550 and N600 per measure, as against N250 and N300 they sold for within same period of last season.

A measure of tomatoes was also sold at N700, while pepper goes for N650, as against N250 and N200, respectively, last season.

Also, prices of imported rice, cooking oil and pasta reflected similar increases in prices as a 50-kg bag of rice was sold for between N13, 500 and N15,000, as against its old price of N6,700.

A carton of pasta sold for between N2, 700 and N3, 000, as against its previous prices of N1, 900 and N2, 200, respectively.

A four-litre gallon of Kings cooking oil attracted as much as N2, 700, as against the N1, 700 it sold for during the last festive season.

Prices of poultry products have also skyrocketed, as a result of the increase in the demand.

A medium-sized chicken was sold at N1,500 while guinea fowl sold for N1,600, as against N1,000 and N1,200, before the festive season.

Dealers at the market attributed the poor patronage to the low purchasing power, owing to harsh economic conditions in the country.

Alhaji Uba Salmanu, a grain dealer, said the market conditions were not encouraging due to the low sales recorded within the past few days.

“The sales are lower, compared to what was recorded last season.

“We are not making good sales and the market conditions are not encouraging in view of the persistent inflation,” he said.

Salmanu added that the demand for food items and animals had reduced tremendously, compared to the higher sales recorded last season.

Madu Idris, another trader, however, expressed hope that the market conditions would improve in the coming days.

Also, Malam Maigaji Ahmad, a resident, said that he would observe the Sallah in a low-key mood, due to cash crunch.

“I will observe the festivities in a low-key way and not the normal grand style we witnessed during the previous festive season,” he said.

Ahmad, however, pleaded with the traders to reduce prices, to enable Muslims observe the Sallah in a happy mood.