It is a period in which families who can afford, slaughter an animal - be it a sheep, goat, cow or camel.
The feast of sacrifice dates back from the historic event when Prophet Ibrahim was commanded by God, in a dream, to sacrifice his son Ismail. When he was in the act of sacrificing his son, God sent him the Arch Angel Gibriel with a huge ram as a ransom.
Since then, Muslims all over the globe continued to practice this important Muslim feast.
However, this year’s event poses a great challenge for most families, as it has coincided with a global pandemic: Covid-19 that has and continues to crumble world economies, businesses and even individuals, with death toll rising by the day.
As Muslims in The Gambia set to celebrate this year’s feast, the government of The Gambia in collaboration with ministries of Agriculture and Trade has secured a total of over 90,000 rams to be sold to Gambians at a lower price, according to information on the state broadcaster.
The move is to lessen the hardships on families and people can access these rams as low as D5500.
The rams, imported Senegal and Mauritania, coupled with our local breeds would help a great deal in catering for the need for those who want rams and at a reasonable price.
This is what every government that has the interest of its people should do. We therefore commend the Government of The Gambia and all those involved for move, which is not only timely, but laudable.
Around town, some dealers are charging exorbitant prices ranging from D15,000 and above. This is way too high for families to afford amid these present circumstances.
We also enjoin those to be responsible for the marketing of these animals to at all costs, ensure impartiality, fairness and neutrality in the process. Let’s not only consider those who are related.
Besides, the purpose of the whole process is to ensure that Gambians have to access rams at a reasonable price. So acting in manners that would suggest discredit to the exercise would only defeat the purpose of the whole process. Let’s remember that this is national issue, so we put Gambia first!