Easter Retains Flavour Despite Soaring Food Prices, Covid Restrictions.
Umar Yahaya, a 19-year old Cobbler from Sokoto is very popular in the Anibaba neighbourhood of Ikorodu, a major district in Lagos state where he is known for repairing or ‘polishing’ the residents’ shoes.
On April 4 however, business was very good and by the close of the day, Umar has made about N15, 000 from customers who either repaired their shoes or polished them for Easter’s celebrations.
“This Easter is very good.. people go out to enjoy themselves and I made a lot of money. This is better than last year’, said an elated Umar in pidgin language. Umar is just one of those who made some money during the 2021 Easter celebrations.
Just like Christmas that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, the Easter period is celebrated worldwide by Christians in remembrance of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who is widely believed to have died to save mankind.
The festivity is preceded by the Lenten period during which 40-day fasting is observed, while the Sunday before Easter Sunday is the Palm Sunday, the day that Jesus Christ rode triumphantly into Jerusalem.
The period is very significant in the calendar of Christians all over the world and the Easter Sunday, the day that Jesus Christ resurrected, signifies God’s authority over death.
Jesus’ resurrection is celebrated globally into the second day when they go to Galilee to meet him physically. This is the fun part when recreation centres are filled up with fun-seekers, catching fun with friends and families.
In the year 2020, the vast majority of Christians celebrated indoors while Churches across denominations held online services due to lockdown to curtail the Covid-19 Pandemic. The year’s Easter seems to be great and full of fun as churches celebrate with various usual events but still conscious of observing the covid-19 rules.
The uniqueness in the 2021 celebration is being alive to witness another Easter, after the dreaded pandemic of 2020 that killed 2,853,631 globally and 2,058 in Nigeria between January 2020 and April 5, 2021.
In all, as of April 5 2021, 131,342,071 cases of Covid were confirmed globally of which 74,496,125 have recovered. Despite the threat of the deadly virus, Easter celebration still held but under the strict observance of the protocols to curb the pandemic.
Residents in Lagos besieged the popular Mile 12 market in Lagos as early as Wednesday preceding the Easter festivity to stock up their homes for the celebration. Greater activities were recorded in the food section where buyers thronged for chicken, rice, beans, condiments, and other items to make the period lively.
Visits to some markets like Bodija, Ogunpa, and Aleshinloye in Ibadan show a huge crowd of people buying and selling clothes, shoes, rice and chicken sellers.
Morenike Ajibade a cloth and shoe seller was happy about the patronage recorded. ” I make more sales as the Easter celebration approaches, despite the state of the economy in the country”.
A poultry attendant, Emmanuel Ariyo said: “This year’s Easter is more encouraging in terms of chicken sales and not like last year when we were frustrated by the pandemic”. At the Garki international market, trading activities was low because the high price of foods items remained the same.
Transportation fares remain the same but there was a surge in movement within the country as the usual traffic on the Lagos –Ibadan expressway remains owing to quite a number of people that travelled to Lagos state for various reasons.
There was a deluge of travellers at major motor parks in the Utako district of Abuja. Terminus like God is good, Peace Parks and Delta Line recorded high patronage as many passengers were seen in the park waiting to travel.
Although the soaring food prices and the consciousness of the parents for the next school term affected sales, it could not take away the flavour of the season which later moves to the beaches in Lagos and other recreational parks across the country.
In Abuja, retails’ stores like Shoprite and Ebeano recorded a high number of patronage as long queues were observed at the payment points.
In Lagos however, from the afternoon of Easter Sunday, lounges, eateries and other recreational centres witnessed a beehive of activities amidst the negative economies indices and the threat of the Covid pandemic.
Currently, the inflation rate stands at 17.33 percent, while unemployment and under-employees figures are put at 33.3 percent and 22.8 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
These gloomy economic statistics could not deter fun-seekers who were sighted at several recreational parks and beaches in the state
A fun seeker, who simply gave his name as Steven said “although times are quite hard, there is always a reason to have fun with your friends and family. The Easter period comes once in a year, so my family and I have decided to have a good time, no matter the economic situation in the country,” he said.
A sales attendant at a popular event centre in Ojoo district in Lagos told InsideBusinessNG correspondent that Easter alongside Christmas is always an opportunity to make brisk business due to the traffic opportunity that comes with such season.
“I am not surprised that there is a rush by customers. It’s Easter. We always prepare for this period just like the Christmas season.
No matter the economic situation in the country, we usually experience lots of sales, coupled with the fact that it is weekend, which means most people are not at work,” the Sales representative who pleaded anonymity said.
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