Celebrating Eid in a time of recession

Muslims in the country will be celebrating Eid-el-Kabir in a dire economic situation.

It is clear that Nigeria is currently going through difficult times and facing economic crisis. Nigerians have been wailing over how the dire situation has greatly affected everyday life and how the cost of living is ridiculously expensive. Infact, there have never been a bad situation as this in recent times. Basically, the recession is said to be caused by a slump in crude prices, which brings in approximately 70% of the government’s revenue and the rise in dollar rate soared other prices of many items.

With Eid-el-Kabir celebrations on Monday, many people are at a cross road of what to do for a swell celebrations. Majorly, ram sellers have recorded an all-time low of patronage. People want to buy their rams like every other year, buy new outfits for their children, warmly welcome their loved ones and friends with gifts and the usual wonderful delicacies and take the family out. But they are desperately struggling to make ends meet before the festivities. Pockets have run dry and the present economic situation is only making things more difficult. Muslims are trying to find any other alternative to provide for their families. Also, many organisations both private and government are yet pay salaries or are owing workers for many months. To compound the problem schools have just resumed and many parents had paid their children’s fees.

A house wife, Maimuna Abbas voiced her concerns saying that the situation is extremely tough. She said the prices of food items have doubled if not tripled. Rice, beans, meat, cooking oil have greatly increased. According to that, one have to plan and budget, cut down the quantity of purchases and stop buying items that one can do without. Maimuna explained that “Our lifestyle has taken a complete turnaround.

“This Sallah, I hope and I will try to maximize what I have to make my family have a decent and fun filled celebration. Usually, I take them out for ice cream, buy them new clothes but now we have been forced to use the clothes they wore last Sallah. My children may not be happy, but they are going to have to adjust to the new situation of how things are now. We plan to at least cook what is available to us and go out and entertain ourselves however we can. If we are to go out, I have to seriously consider how much I will spend. But still, we will try and see how to make things work out in our favour.”

She explained further that “every year during Sallah, my husband and I slaughter one ram each and now, one ram is going for the ridiculous price of up to N140, 000. What are we meant to do when we know we have other responsibilities vested upon us? As of now, the best thing to do is to believe that God will provide a way out and use the little savings we have. Our salaries are yet to be paid. We need the government or whoever it is responsible for making our lives so horribly difficult to provide a way out for its citizens. The reality out there is that some people cannot even afford three square meals anymore and it is like the government is completely oblivious to conditions they are living in.”

Fatima Ibrahim, another housewife spoke about her own inconveniences. “It has really affected me and every Nigerian too. But in respect to my own family, we haven’t had it easy too. We will manage with the little we have to see that we do something during the festivities even though we know it will not be as grand as before. Our extended family can also give us a helping hand since that is what family is for.”

Mrs. Ibrahim added that, “Sallah won’t be the same for us because we usually travel home but this year, we won’t be able to do that. We will be spending it here in Abuja. It is like a Sallah tradition to us and now we have no choice but to stay put here. We will spend it visiting our family and friends that live nearby and if that is not possible either, we will just stay at home so that we do not bring more unnecessary spending upon ourselves.”

Another woman, Ummahani Abubakar also told noted that the current economic situation has affected everyone greatly because of the rise of prices of foodstuff. She said “in the past, you could purchase a bag of rice at N9000 but now, it goes for between N18, 000 and N20, 000. That is more than double the price and the same applies to everything. The most important thing during this Eid celebration is the ram slaughtering and many people won’t be privileged to do so. The food quantity will have to be cut down this year because of the harsh economic circumstances. It is rather unfortunate and there are very little alternatives to turn to. Also, we have priorities that are equally important. Our children are all going to school. We have school fees and prices of other things have also soared. We also need to make sure that we serve our family three square meals daily and if that means sacrificing what we do for Sallah, then so be it.”