Our correspondents
Bleak Sallah awaits many Muslims across the country as the festival is holding a few days to a new academic session.
Findings show that many Muslim parents have opted for low key Sallah celebrations and will prioritise their children’s education and payment of their tuition over merriment and the buying of rams.
Many of the Muslim faithful, who spoke to our correspondents, said they would be celebrating the festival indoors with their families because of paucity of funds and hike in the prices of goods.

For instance, in Akure, Ondo State, the average lowest price of ram is N30, 000 as against N10, 000 in 2015 at around the same time.
One of our correspondents reports that the prices of some food items have increased by over 100 per cent as a bag of rice that was sold last year for N10, 000 now costs N21, 000.
A federal civil servant, Mr. Tunji Adeniran, said he would not buy rams for the festival because doing that would affect the payment of his children’s tuition.
He said, “We have not been paid salary for August and I have no money in reserve. But even if I get paid before Monday, I will use the money to pay for the school fees of my children who will be resuming next week.”
Another resident of Akure, Alhaji Muritala Olabisi, said for the first time as a family man, he would not be buying rams for Sallah celebration.
He said, “I only intend to go to the Eid praying ground on that day and return home to my family.
“It is very unfortunate that we are experiencing a period like this; this has never happened to me before. Life is so tough for the people. The little money I have now cannot be spent on celebration. In few days from now, schools will resume and I have to pay my children’s school fees.”
In Lagos, the story is the same as many Muslims also lamented the effect of the economic situation on their finances.
A ram that cost N50, 000 in the metropolis around Sallah period in 2015 now costs about N80, 000.
A resident businessman, Alhaji Akanni Yusuf, who bought two rams for Sallah in 2015, said he would not be buying any this year.
Yusuf said his priority was paying his children’s tuition, which was over N350,000.
“By this time last year, I had bought two rams at the rate of N45,000 each, clothes for my children and the house had been stuffed with drinks, but I have decided not to buy anything because of the economic situation and my financial obligations.”
“My three daughters will be resuming school a week after Sallah. Their new tuition is N350, 000. This is apart from books and other materials they will need,” he said.
Muslims that are civil servants in Osun State said Sallah would be celebrated in low key due to the financial challenges facing the state and its people.
The Chairman of the Osun State wing of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, Mr. Wakeel Amudah, told one of our correspondents in Osogbo that although the state government paid half salary for June, many teachers would not get anything from their salaries because their banks would have deducted all of it to service their loans.
He said, “I have not bought any ram now. I don’t know how it will be done. So I can tell you that the celebrations will be low key in Osun State.
“The half salary for the month of June has been paid but the money is not leaving the banks because many won’t get a dime from it. The banks would have used the entire money to service the loans taken by workers.”
Traders, Mrs. Moriyeba Jamiu and Mrs. Fatima Olootu, said they were not making any preparations for the Sallah, adding that there were more pressing issues to spend money on than the festival.
Against the background of current economic challenges in Nigeria, many Muslim faithful in Katsina State said Sallah celebrations would be low key this year.
Many Muslims, who used to slaughter the symbolic rams during the annual festival, told one of our correspondents that they would not buy rams this year.
It was observed that many ram traders had relocated from the popular ram markets at Mayardua, Mashi, Dankama, Charanchi and Batsari to major streets in Katsina city with a view to getting more patronage.
However, despite their efforts, the ram traders said they were recording low sales.