Sallah: Tailors count losses amidst lockdown

Tailors in Kaduna have been lamenting a lull in business activities, with barely three days to Eid -el-Fitr (Sallah).

Some of those who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna, described the development as unprecedented, attributing the ‘misfortune’ to the lockdown, occasioned by the outbreak of coronavirus disease.

They lamented that the usual excitement being generated few days to Sallah, was no longer feasible as many residents focused on food items, having realised that social activities and gathering would be limited during the Sallah period.

A tailor at Unguan Mu’azu, Auwal Muhammad, lamented that the lockdown had disrupted his businesses, stating that people were battling to feed their families and not bothering to buy Sallah clothes.

Muhammad said this period was usually the time they got clothes for sewing as people do not mostly sew clothes during Eid-el-Kabir as their priority was to buy rams for sacrifice.

“Usually, by this time, especially when Ramadan had gone half way, we stop collecting clothes for sewing because we know we cannot meet customers’ demand, and in order not to disappoint them, we stop.

“The story is different this time as you can see my shop is virtually empty, except for a few people that had bought the materials before the lockdown,” he said.

Musa Bashir, a tailor at Barnawa, Kaduna, however, said he had not expected to get any sewing for Sallah during the lockdown, but the patronage he got was fair because people had brought materials for sewing prior to the lockdown.

“I knew I will not get many materials for sewing as people are finding it hard to feed themselves; the ones I got before the lockdown and the few during the Ramadan, is fair.

“I can say I have received close to half of what I usually receive during previous Sallah festivities; I thank God because many of our colleagues had three weeks ago not received any material to sew for customers for the forthcoming sallah,” he said.

Another tailor, Murtala Zubair of Kawo, Kaduna, said he now sew from home because he could not afford settling the monthly rent of his shop because of the low patronage caused by the coronavirus lockdown.

“In previous years, a month or two before sallah, I receive more than 50 clothes for sewing, but this year, I barely had ten; if I should stay in the shop, I would not be able to settle the rent,” Zubair said.

On his part, Abdullahi Hassan, a tailor at Tudun Wada, Kaduna, lamented that there was little patronage for over a month now, adding that this time last year, he had already earned about N250,000.

“My major customers who bring lots of materials for sewing have not come; by this time last year, they had come and paid for everything; I believe the lockdown had also affected them financially,” Hassan said.

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