Nigerian lefties in the Federal Capital Territory(FCT) on Tuesday joined the rest of the world to celebrate their uniqueness, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
In separate interviews with NAN in Abuja, they said that left handed people “are particularly blessed, intelligent and have a sixth sense that sometimes defied understanding’’.
NAN reports that International Left Hander Day is observed annually on Aug. 13 to celebrate the uniqueness and differences of left handers.
The day was first observed in 1976 by Dean Campbell, founder of the Lefthanders International.
Mr Samson Abayomi, a School Teacher and left hander, told NAN that Aug. 13 is set aside to make majority right-handlers aware of the frustrations that left-handed people faced while using devices designed for right-handed people.
“We are in a society where nearly everyone is using their right hand and everyone is looking at us as anomaly.
“They keep asking you: `Why are you writing with the left hand? Don’t you find it wrong to write with the left hand? Everyone thinks there is something wrong with you.
“However, that is changing now. Writing with the left hand is becoming acceptable. Albert Einstein was also left-handed,’’ Abayomi said.
Mrs Adaku Christopher, a Psychologist, said left-handedness are celebrated in other cultures.
She noted that many movie stars and some past presidents of the United States were left handed.
“However, the stigma of lefties has persisted more in Nigeria and also Africa in general.
“In some parts of the world, mostly in Nigeria, you must eat your food with your right hand because they believe that you do the unclean things with your left hand.
“That is not an uncommon set of beliefs and social processes throughout Africa,” she said.
Christopher, nevertheless, said that there were places where left-handed people were regarded as “magical, better, unique’’.
Mrs Benita Iwu, a Senior Nurse said it is a taboo in some parts of Nigeria, in those days, to be left handed.
“Most parents at homes will always beat their children for using left hand to eat.
“In schools, the teachers still scold student for writing with left hand. So it is still a problem,” she said.
Iwu urged Nigerians to change their perception about left-handlers.
She said teachers must understand that students who are lefties needed a bit of help when they are first learning how to hold their pencil to write.
Mr Mark Omale, a Civil Servant said, although, he believed that left handed people were unique but they suffered some discriminations in the society.
He identified notable left handlers who achieved so much for themselves to include; Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Aristotle, and Oprah Winfrey.
NAN, reports that the left-handlers day is also used to encourage businesses and governments to be more left-handed friendly and adapt everyday objects for left-handed people.