By LYDIA CHIGOZIE-NGWAKWE

Abundance of unsold livestock in markets and streets in the last few days shows that many Nigerians could not afford Eid Kabir sacrifice.

An economist, Prof. Mohammed Madawaki, of the Department of Banking and Finance, University of Maiduguri, expressed the view in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone.

He said: ?Eid al-Adha is a major religious celebration that Muslims plan for all year.

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

Madawaki noted that few years ago, an average-sized ram sold for 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 agriculture and energy sectors.

He said that 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.

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

He said that many people who used to buy whole rams resorted to buying parts.

According to him, some of such people bought goats or even chickens instead.

?Customers are not coming like before. They look at the prices and walk away,? he said.

According to Adamu, small rams now sell for between N200,000 and N400,000, while medium-sized ones go for N450,000 to N600,000, and big rams sell for N600,000 and above.

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

Mr. Balogun Aielegun, a businessman, told NAN in Lagos that he couldn?t buy a ram for Eid-el-Kabir this year.

He said that 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)

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