As Eid-El-Kabir approaches, lagging market activity and soaring ram prices have exposed the depth of Nigeria’s economic malaise. Traders in the Ibafo, Kara and Agege markets of Ogun and Lagos states report a staggering 55.5 per cent increase in the cost of sacrificial rams compared with 2024, forcing would-be buyers to stay away and leaving sellers stranded with unsold stock.
“Rams we sold for ₦150,000–₦180,000 last year now fetch ₦250,000–₦280,000,” Rabiu Abubakar lamented at Ibafo Market, highlighting that procurement costs from northern regions have skyrocketed and “we have no choice but to pass these expenses on to customers.”
Yet, even this steep markup has failed to entice buyers: across the markets, would-be celebrants simply cannot afford the inflated rates.
The Price Surge in Context
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s headline inflation rate stood at 23.18 per cent in February 2025, down from 24.48 per cent in January 2025 but still reflecting severe price pressures.
Food inflation—which directly encompasses livestock and staple food prices—remained 23.51 per cent year-on-year in February 2025, even after a recalibration of the CPI base year.
By March 2025, headline inflation ticked back up to 24.23 per cent, driven largely by persistent food and non-alcoholic beverage costs.
Yet rams have appreciated at more than twice the rate of general food inflation, indicating that stressors specific to livestock—namely feed, transport and scarcity—are fuelling an acute price bulge that ordinary consumers cannot absorb.
Market Snapshots: Agege, Ibafo and Kara
At Agege’s renowned abattoir market in Lagos, only a handful of traders and customers milled around, a stark contrast with the previous year when sales flowed briskly at least three days before Sallah (Friday, June 6; public holiday declared by the Federal Government).
Olalere Oriyomi, one of the few sellers in Agege, contrasted last year’s ₦350,000 rams with this year’s ₦500,000 tags.
“There’s a gap of ₦150,000–₦100,000 between 2024 and 2025,” he noted. “By now, the abattoir should have been heaving, but people won’t come because they simply can’t afford these prices.”
Abu Muhammed, another Agege trader, added that the high price of animal feed—up by roughly 108 per cent for maize and 92 per cent for soybeans over the past year—has exacerbated costs.
A 25 kg bag of poultry feed rose from N25,000 to N27,800 between December 2023 and February 2025, pushing feed costs to account for 60–70 per cent of total production expenses.
Meanwhile, in Kara Market along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, sellers like Idris Ishera report that a basic ₦150,000 ram no longer exists; the cheapest stock now starts at ₦250,000, while premium specimens can go for as much as ₦1 million.
“Last year, the market was thriving; this year, it’s dead,” Ishera declaimed. He credited relative traffic calm to government efforts—praising both Lagos and Ogun State governments for averting gridlock despite the heavy livestock influx—but stressed that footfall remains lethally low.
“There is no money in the country,” he concluded. Thus, even where logistical barriers have been eased, demand has collapsed under the burden of un-affordability.
Underlying Cost Drivers
1. Rising Animal Feed Costs
Feed prices have emerged as the principal driver of the ram-price surge. According to the Feed Industry Practitioners Association of Nigeria (FIPAN), animal feed accounts for roughly 60–70 per cent of the cost of animal protein production, and despite some government interventions (e.g. maize and soybean export restrictions), feed costs remain stubbornly high.
A metric tonne of maize now trades at ₦1 million—up from ₦480,000 a year earlier—while soybeans have climbed from ₦425,000 to ₦815,000 over the same period.
The Federal Government’s allocation of ₦1.77 billion in the 2025 budget to sustainable livestock management and disease-free zones, while welcome, is unlikely to yield immediate relief for feed prices or influence ram prices in time for Eid́-El-Kabir.
2. Transportation and Security Expenses
Transport costs from northern cattle-rearing states to markets in the South have spiked, partly due to rising fuel prices and partly to heightened insecurity along key transit corridors.
Removal of fuel subsidies in May 2023 sent petrol prices soaring by over 150 per cent, and consequent high transport bills have been passed fully onto ram sellers.
Security challenges—ranging from banditry in Zamfara and Katsina to herder-farmer conflicts along routes—have compelled traders to hire armed escorts, further inflating logistics costs.
Sabo Sheu of Ibafo observed that “transport from the North to the West now costs double what it did in 2024,” adding to the overall inflationary mix and dampening supply chain efficiencies.
3. Currency Volatility and Forex Scarcity
A floating naira and chronic forex scarcity have raised the cost of imported inputs (e.g. vaccines, veterinary pharmaceuticals and premix components).
The naira’s unofficial exchange rate hovers near ₦1,450/USD—vastly lower than the official ₦1,250/USD—pushing up commodity import bills. Livestock feeds reliant on soy and maize imports must contend with this gap, exacerbating local price setting.
For example, importers of vitamin premixes and medication pay roughly 16 per cent more in naira terms than last year, forcing feed millers to compress margins or increase prices.
As a result, even small-scale ram rearers face profit erosion, prompting them to source cheaper feed, often of lower nutritional value—yielding smaller animals and further squeezing supply.
Economic Fallout and Public Sentiment
The average Nigerian worker now earns ₦70,000 per month, the revised national minimum wage that took effect on 1 May 2024. While this marked a 133 per cent increase from the previous ₦30,000, it remains grossly inadequate against current price levels.
A single ₦250,000 ram thus equates to 3.6 months’ minimum wage, while a ₦500,000 animal costs 7.1 months’ salary—figures unimaginable just a year ago.
With food inflation at 23.51 per cent and headline inflation at 24.23 per cent in March 2025, average households are squeezed between stagnant incomes and soaring living costs, prompting some to skip Eid sacrifices altogether or opt for goat alternatives, which have risen by 40 per cent but remain marginally cheaper than rams.
Protests in 2024 over high cost of living and proposed wage increases illustrate public anger. August 2024 rallies in Lagos and Abuja decried escalating prices and demanded subsidy reinstatement; in response, police deployed tear gas to disperse crowds, underscoring the volatile social consequences of unchecked inflation.
Today, similar frustration festers: for devout Muslims the ritual sacrifice of a ram is non-negotiable, yet many are forced into substantial debt or cancelled celebrations.
One anonymous trader remarked, “People buy only because they have no choice—in Islam, you must sacrifice; some even borrow money to afford a ram, despite knowing it will wipe out savings.”
Government Response: Too Little, Too Late?
So far, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has stressed safety and traffic management, rather than price controls. The Federal Government declared Friday, 6 June and Monday, 9 June 2025 as public holidays for Eid, but took no steps to mitigate ram prices.
In Lagos and Ogun, state governments coordinated with security agencies to prevent accidents and unrest, yet both stressed that the market must follow supply-and-demand dynamics.
“The government does not fix prices of goods,” Ogun State’s Special Adviser on Media, Kayode Akinmade, reaffirmed.
“Our focus is ensuring lives and property are protected; we urge residents to celebrate safely.”
While such assurances may forestall traffic jams and security incidents, they do nothing to check runaway ram prices or address the root causes of food-price inflation.
Critically, the removal of fuel subsidies in May 2023, alongside exchange-rate liberalisation, has driven fuel and freight costs skyward; the naira’s depreciation, pegged by many analysts as necessary for macroeconomic stability, has inflicted severe near-term hardship on Nigerians, particularly low-income households.
Tinubu’s government has touted these reforms as “shock therapy” to correct fiscal imbalances and restore foreign investor confidence, but these benefits remain largely abstract for citizens contending with daily hardship.
Toward a Sustainable Solution
To prevent Eid-marking from becoming a symbol of economic despair, policymakers must act immediately. Four key measures should be considered:
Targeted Livestock Subsidies or Microcredit Programmes
Rather than general subsidies—difficult to manage in an era of fiscal constraints—the Federal Government could disburse targeted microcredit to verified small-scale livestock rearers to reduce price pass-through.
By working with the Central Bank of Nigeria to deploy low-interest loans for feed purchases and veterinary services, the government can stabilise supply and mitigate price shocks.
Such an approach would align with the ₦1.77 billion livestock fund in the 2025 budget but focus expenditures on feed production and disease control, ensuring a trickle-down effect on ram prices.
Feed-Component Strategic Reserves
Drawing from FIPAN’s recommendation, the government should establish feed-reserve silos to stockpile maize and soybeans during harvest seasons, releasing them at below-market rates when inflation surges.
Governance and transparent allocation would be key; if properly executed, this could blunt the impact of forex volatility and import bottlenecks, given that feed accounts for over two-thirds of livestock-rearing costs.
Enhanced Security on Livestock Corridors
Improved security along the Cattle Transit Route (CTR)—especially between northern mega-ranch zones and southern markets—would curb the need for expensive armed escorts.
The Federal Government could deploy the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) in partnership with state security outfits to establish protected transit corridors, reducing insurance-like fees levied by informal security outfits.
Such measures would alleviate transport cost spikes and encourage smoother supply chains.
Agricultural-Value Chain Interventions
Longer-term solutions must include improved animal husbandry training, extension services, and support for private feed-milling operations.
By incentivising local feed-processing enterprises through tax breaks and public–private partnerships, the government can foster competition in feed supply, driving down costs.
Furthermore, revitalising germ-plasm research to develop faster-growing, disease-resistant sheep breeds could raise domestic herd sizes, easing scarcity and stabilising prices over time.
Conclusion: Eid-El-Kabir at a Crossroads
In 2024, Nigerian households braved inflation to perform the sacred rite of Eid sacrifice, but in 2025 the burden has become existential.
With rams selling for 55.5 per cent more than the previous year—far outpacing the 23.51 per cent food inflation—ordinary citizens face an unenviable choice between religious observance and financial survival.
Government inaction on pricing, coupled with broader economic reforms that have yet to deliver tangible relief to the typical family, risks turning what should be a joyous festival into an emblem of socioeconomic despair.
Unless policymakers pivot decisively—implementing targeted livestock support, feed reserves, enhanced security and agricultural-value chain reforms—traumatised markets will usher in a new normal where Eid sacrifices become a privilege of the affluent rather than a shared communal tradition.
Only by confronting these economic headwinds head-on can Nigeria preserve the essence of Eid-El-Kabir—a celebration of faith, charity and communal solidarity—rather than witness it devolve into another casualty of runaway inflation and endemic policy neglect.
Additional reporting from Taiwo Adebowale, Suleiman Adamu & Peter Jene
