By Shamsu Jamilu Jirgi,
Business is an unavoidable artefact in human endeavour. It boosts the
life of individuals at various levels, more specifically our
socio-economic life as well as our business acumen. Through business
one can relate with personages from different social background,
culture and nationality, especially if the business is a large scale
one.
Due to the fact that business is a profitable activity which has been
existed since unmemorable period, an immeasurable number of people
have been engaging in it. But, one thing to think about it is, how the
system (business) has been controversially changing whenever the month
of Ramadan is around the corner.
Despite the fact that Ramadan is a month of Allah’s blessings and
forgiveness which requires Muslim nations to quantitatively and
qualitatively be engaged in good deeds that will link them to the
attainment of the said blessings and forgiveness of Allah, yet, the
alarming moment has been witnessed at the eleventh hour of Sha’aban
and most part of Ramadan where some business men, ranging from small
scale up to large scale businesses sell their various commodities at a
higher rate than before, without any effect of inflation rate from
where they buy their goods. A clear evidence regarding this matter is
a survey that I have carried out at some business arenas in Malumfashi
Local Government Area of which I discovered that commodities are
inflating at higher rate than they were before. For instance, the
prices of textile materials ( like shadda, atampa inter alia) are
outrageous. However, in vegetable market some grocers confirmed me
that with the exception of tomatoes and onion, other vegetables like
chili pepper, Irish potatoes etc are equally inflating. Lemon that was
sold at N30 has now increase soar to N50 per lemon. However I was
opportune to purchase tamarind (tsamiya) of N100 to be used for “kunu”
and when I entreated the seller to compare the price of tamarind of
before and the present time, he replied “before, with your N60 you
could purchase the same quantity of N100 tamarind of today”.
In like manner, food stuff like sugar, rice, spaghetti, seasoning
(maggi) , palm oil, groundnut oil are also at higher prices than they
were before. Some fruits like orange, banana, pineapple, watermelon
have as well gone to higher prices.
It is very disheartening that, this unreasonable inflation of
commodities towards and within Ramadan is largely emanating from
Muslim business people, despite the fact that Islamic scholars have
been admonishing them to have fear of Allah and seek His blessings,
mercy and forgiveness that are flourishing in this holy month of
Ramadan by lowering the prices of their commodities to ease life among
Muslims in order to earn Allah’s pleasure.
We finally hope that this nagging and insensitive attitude of
inflating commodities will be erased sooner or later. At the same
time, we ask our Lord, the Omnipotent and The most Merciful to make
life easy for us, accept our good deeds and forgive our sins. Ameen
