We experienced mixed fortunes during Ramadan -Business owners

a Lagos open market

Mixed tales of profit and low patronage characterised business transactions during the just concluded
holy month of Ramadan.

Findings shows that while dealers in commodities like fruits enjoyed huge profit, those in the hospitality industry had low patronage.

The proprietor of Rahaman Hotel, a high brow hospitality centre in Ilorin, Kwara State, Kamil Rahaman, told our reporter  that patronage ”dropped significantly to an all- time low as people shunned pleasure for piety and the seeking of the face of Allah.”
Rahaman, a Muslim, said anytime Ramadan is observed, it affects his business.

The owner of Ajasco Night Club, a successful night club at Iju Ishaga area of Ifako Ijaiye, Lagos State, Emmanuel Martin, said his business also experienced a drop in patronage during the period. “This place is normally filled up with customers but the Ramadan greatly affected patronage because people, especially our Muslim brothers and sisters, were using the period to seek the face of Allah. They ran away from sin and pleasures, for a while to embark on fasting and prayer.”

Adedotun Sesan, a fruit dealer at Ijoko in Ogun State, however, said it was a brisk business for him during the Ramadan.
“For me, the sale was tremendous this past month as there was an upsurge in patronage up to 70 percent. Ramadan has brought me good profit”, he said.

Commenting on the situation, the Chief Imam of Central Mosque at Agbado area of Lagos State, Sheik Abdulfatai Sadr said, ”the month of Ramadan is the ninth month of Muslim calendar. It is the month that Prophet Mohammed was given the Quran by Angel Jibril. It is obligatory on Muslims to observe it with prayers and fasting for a month. The Qur’an was given when Prophet Mohammed was in meditation at Mount Hira. Well, it (Ramadan period) may have effects on entrepreneurs because they may experience low patronage, but Allah has a way of recompensing them after the Ramadan, if they faithfully observed it”.