Cost of living crisis reshapes Eid spending in Nigeria

Opeyemi Ibrahim at his fashion shop in Byazhin, where he says business has slowed [Hussain Wahab/Al Jazeera]

He said rising fuel costs and erratic electricity supply have pushed up his operating expenses.

“When there is no electricity, we have to run the generator,” he said. “Filling it costs about 10,000 naira [$7].

But without it, the shop becomes too hot, and we still need power to iron customers’ clothes.”

Inside Kubwa livestock market

At a livestock market in Kubwa, the strain is obvious before anyone even speaks. Men stand beside rams tied to wooden posts. Buyers move from one animal to another, ask a few questions, then drift away.

Malam Ibrahim, a livestock seller who has been in the trade for years, sat near the feed, watching most of his customers leave empty-handed.

“People come, ask for prices, and walk away,” he said.

Malam Ibrahim, a livestock seller at Kubwa market, rests during a slow sales day [Hussain Wahab/Al Jazeera]

He pointed to a ram nearby, with black-and-white markings on its body.

“This ram is selling for 600,000 naira [about $438],” he said. “Last year, the same size was below 350,000 naira  [$255].”

Getting animals down from northern Nigeria, Sokoto, Kaduna and beyond, has become more expensive. Fuel prices, transport fares, everything feeds into the final cost.

“Even the sellers are suffering,” Ibrahim said. If sales stay slow, he worries the animals will remain unsold after Eid, when their value drops further. “We do not pray to take them back home, but with the looks of things, I fear so,” he said.

Eid cutbacks

One woman who had come to buy two rams left with only one.

Buhari Yishau, a fruit seller, works at Kubwa village market, where sales have slowed ahead of Eid [Hussain Wahab/Al Jazeera]

Inflation has been steady in Nigeria for years now, but what people feel most is the gap between rising prices and stagnant incomes. The naira may look more stable against the United States dollar than last year, traders say, but moving goods across the country still costs more every month.

At Kubwa village market, buyers kept moving, but few stopped to buy.

Vendors selling tomatoes, onions, rice and cooking oil said sales were slower than usual, with many families cutting back even on basic festive food.

“We used to celebrate Eid with joy,” one trader said quietly. “Now we just calculate what we can afford.”