In major markets in Ibadan, an average chicken was sold for between ₦15,000 and ₦17,000.
As this year's Christmas draws near, it is likely that most families will be celebrating the day without chicken on their menu.
A cross section of consumers, poultry sellers and producers, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Thursday, attributed this to the rising costs of chicken and production items.
NAN observed that in some major markets in Ojoo, Dugbe, Mokola and Iwo Road, an average chicken was sold for between ₦15,000 and ₦17,000.
A civil servant, Stephen Abidogun, said he could not afford to buy chickens for Christmas and had, therefore, opted for substitutes.
"Whatever I find within my means can be substituted for chicken – fish, meat or ponmo – will be used, as there are school fees to be paid for the children in January.
"My take home pay has been made meaningless as a result of the rising cost of living and the constant devaluation of the naira.
"Salaries have remained the same while prices of goods and services have tripled within this period.
"With the economic downturn in Nigeria now, one has to live within his means," Abidogun said.
A chicken feeds seller, Mariam Samuel, said prices of feeds had also gone up, attributing it to one of the reasons behind the escalated prices of chicken.
Samuel said, "The price of maize, which is a major ingredient in the production of feeds, has gone from ₦300 to ₦800 per 'kongo.'
"Ultima finisher, which now sells for ₦17,000, was sold for ₦15,000, while Topfeeds, which used to sell for ₦10,200, now sells for ₦12,900," she said.
A poultry farmer, Peter Alabi, however, said the increase in the price of day-old chick, which he claimed was the bedrock of poultry production, was another factor responsible for the high cost of chicken.
"A day-old chick is now ₦1,000," he said.
Alabi also stated that the rise in the prices of maize and other items in the production of feeds had contributed mostly to lack of enough fowls for sale.
You are truly a good man, this means a lot and have given me the direction I needed, thank you so much, you are far too kind. I and my friends will follow all you said diligently. We are getting everything together to begin in March. Kindly oblige me a response if I need further information if need be, in the future. Thank you
MemoriesAndMe: I was trained in universities here in the US and have been doing it through most of my career. I don't train folks on it, I did in the past, but not anymore, but I have all the resources for anyone interested in Cybersecurity cos that's my space and can gladly share for free.
I don't think universities in Nigeria teach Cybersecurity yet, but my entire knowledge was from here in the US.
My advice to you will be to just take baby steps and know what area of Cybersecurity you like - Cybersecurity is very broad and you have to choose what areas you like, you will get confused if you start bouncing around various areas of Cybersecurity. For me, I focused on Network Security and Application security. I'm a certified ethical hacker too, so I know the onions when it comes to tech.
There are free trainings on YouTube if you want to watch them just to get started.
I know of some Nigerian folks organizing some free trainings on Splunk, but I don't know if they accept folks from Nigeria cos some folks already messed it up for others by suddenly starting to beg for money from everyone in the Whatshap group or sending them fraudulent links to extort them.
There are many free trainings on YouTube you can watch and see if the area is for you. I'd advise you get certified after knowing each area cos that makes you stand out amongst others that don't have your type of certifications.
Log analysis is another booming area in IT, you can learn it on your own on YouTube, Udemy, Coursera etc. Just focus on Splunk.
Folks with Splunk skills can never lack jobs, here in the US you're aiming for a minimum of $130k per annum. You can make even up to $180k depending on your skills and bargaining power, not sure what they pay in Nigeria for such skills - I never worked in Nigeria, except the IT trainings I did there cos I attended polytechnics in Nigeria, not universities and there was discrimination back then, so I dipped out and attended universities here.
Just get an idea of what Splunk is about, learn it, get certified in it, add it to your resume and see how many global job opportunities are open to you even though you may be based in Nigeria. Firms are ready to bring vibrant and talented minds from anywhere to anywhere in the world as long as you can prove to them that's you are an asset.
I schooled in Nigeria too and I know there are too many brilliant people in Nigeria, the opportunities are just not there for many in Nigeria, but firms will gladly hire the proper skills as long as you can prove your skills to them.
If you're interested in learning Splunk to add to your resume, YouTube is free, watch asany videos as u want on it and find a course online to build up your skill. I'll share a link below which is just and intro. Within a few months, you'll be a pro and even train others as a side hustle if you want.
MemoriesAndMe: I'm a Cybersecurity Engineer bro, I've been a US citizen for almost 20 years now. I schooled here too, got both my bachelor's and masters here in the IT space, my masters is in Cybersecurity.
Ofcourse people get IT jobs without having any certifications, but those with certifications stand a better chance. Some jobs advertised specifically ask for certifications or push employees to be certified after getting hired. Most of my certifications were paid for by employers as some of them are very expensive.
I'm aware of the layoffs, just saying it doesn't mean everyone laid off are IT folks working for the firm.
No one will offer me an IT support role as I'm much above that level in the tech world with experience and certs to show for it. I have consulted for many big forms here and understand the internals.
It's not true that everyone has to marry an American to be an American, people bring their kids, brothers and other family members over and there is a path to US citizenship for them without them having to marry anyone.
I'm just talking about what I've seen and I'm used to, it may be a different experience for others.
Boss, my friends and I are eager to get into Cyber security and I honestly need a mentor, can you help. I sent you a message
Boss, I need catalyst converter for Toyota Sienna 2005, can't seem to trust the ones sold here in Uyo. How much will it go for? I was told it reduces fuel consumption.
fuckJones: Here are the summary of the shocking revelation I got from my dream yesterday, I never doubt my dreams for once. 1. I saw a new pope that will last for five years. 2. they will be civil war in USA that will lead to the country splitting into to two, if your relatives is in USA, start prepping for his return in August, the republic and the democrat will go separately. 3. I saw a new president in Russia, Putin death will cause a lot of crisis in Russian too, I saw confusion in what Kill him. 4. Global financial crisis will hit the world, please don't invest in USA dollar, I saw the end of dollars dominant.
Harrisonwo: The current govt house land doesn't belong to the state. It's rented..
The aim of building the new govt house is to avoid the rent stuff and it's outside umuahia town thereby it will reduce the traffic congestion usually found in the current area
Very true, Abia is the only state in Nigeria that pay rent for it's government house