I keep wondering why som people react in disdain and irritation when u try 2 give or recieve items from them with ur left hand.
Jst the other day I witnessed a scene typical of what I,m talkin about,a man was gonna pay 4 service renderd and d recipient 4 obvious reason(was busy with his right hand) tried 2 reciev the money wit the left hand, no b small quarrel follow aftawards.
Now my question is what is bad or evil about giving and recieving with the left hand,where did the belief emanate from and if truly it is bad what is the consequence of such 'badness'
I wuld realy appreciate a detailed xplanation cos me thinks the belief is jst an outdated ancestral myth.

someone once told me that it was because the left hand is used to clean your nyansh. . . . . . . . . . . . .

MRbrownJAY:

someone once told me that it was because the left hand is used to clean your nyansh. . . . . . . . . . . . .

well if its about butt wiping,I can say there,s little sense in refusing edibles from the 'hand of service' but rebuking some 1 for tryin 2 recieve with the left hand is really primitive,I tell u,

i dont know about you but knowing that people wipe their ass with their left hands, i would rather receive NOTHING rom them from their left hand, whteher food or anything else.

Nigerians need a revolution of the MIND,

I experienced something similar to this when I first came to Nigeria. People do so many nasty things with BOTH their hands, we might as well frown over physical contact all together.

I'd like to add, does that stop you from kissing someone of the opposite sex?? Only god knows what he/she just had inside of their mouth,

My kids know better than to give me something with their left hand, it is the african way of imbibing courtesy in our kids, they are being taught what is appropriate and what is not, try giving my mum something with just one hand and you will see her reaction (now that we are older we do take some liberties).

If you give or receive with the left hand,, Oju ju calabar would come at night and catch you. And it would take you awaaaaaaaaaaaay!!! That's what they told me sha when i was young. And am still scared of Oju ju

Me dont see any wrong with giving or recieving with left hand, if people re scared about wipping ynash with left hand, do u know wat they do with right hand?

wake up peeps!

Dats really an annoying tradition buh no doubt we ve to abide.I mean there is nothing wrong with it!

I am a left-handed person. If my left hand can be used to get money, why can't I use it to eat and give out the money? It's sickening!

it's very annoying, I'm a lefty wanna be. When I had surgery on my right wrist, one silly cab driver refused to take his money from my left hand n I deliberately did not wnt to show him my other hand was not available, when he found out from other passengers, dude said I shud drop it on the seat, wtf and if it's coz of wiping d a55, all those that have received something from my right hand should start washing their hands with acid coz na right I dey use do am

It is our culture, there is nothing wrong with frowning at it, just that people also have to be considerate.
If someone's right hand is busy, or if the person is a lefty or if the right hand is injured, then people must be tolerant and understanding at that period.

In my house, u dare not give my mother anything with ur left hand, otherwise, u go hear am. It is just a sign of disrespect, and has little to do with whether or not u use ur left to wipe ur buttocks.

Its just the same way you cant answer an elderly person with "Yes", u must say "Yes sir/ma", Such is our tradition, and i dont see any reason why it should be changed

^^^the question now is, how is it a sign of disrespect? What of left-handed people?
One day I went to purchase something and used my left hand to touch the stuff. You need to see the way the seller yelled at me. In 2011! Its a tradition but that doesn't mean there aren't stupid traditions.

^^^^
We should be able to grow above that kind of tradition.

Culture and tradition should be dynamic.

I had a funny experience last week when I went to the Abuja trade fair. I wanted to buy ticket at the entrance booth. I was holding a heavy load on my right hand and gave the attendant money with my left hand. He ignored me and was selling to people who came after me. I was dumbfounded. When the guy finally decided to attend to me, he said I was arrogant and warned me never to use my left hand in giving people things. I asked him if the left hand was cursed or if God was stupid to create it, to which he had no answers. He later apologized, collected the money from my left hand, gave me a ticket with his right hand and I collected with my left hand. It's all a matter of outlook in life. There are no ethics, codes or norms that says the left hand cannot be used to give or receive.

I learnt some cultists do spray or give money, eat foods, drink wiith glasses, etc. with their left hands so as to get some form of "protection".  Who knows what other things they are capable of achieving with their left hands? May be that's why some people resent being given things with left hands so as not to come under any evil spell.

That's African magic for you.

MRbrownJAY:

someone once told me that it was because the left hand is used to clean your nyansh. . . . . . . . . . . . .

What of those lefties who use their right hands to wipe their butts? I fall into that category Would you rather i gave you something with my right hand or left ? As a leftie though, i was forced to use my right hand to write and eat as a kid, however i still do most things with my left,

hydroking23:

Nigerians need a revolution of the MIND,

I experienced something similar to this when I first came to Nigeria. People do so many nasty things with BOTH their hands, we might as well frown over physical contact all together.

I'd like to add, does that stop you from kissing someone of the opposite sex?? Only god knows what he/she just had inside of their mouth,

Why? because it's not a western tradition? look EVERYONE has their own idiosyncrasies . We have a right to our culture,
many yoruba foods are eaten with the hand. and traditionally communally. it was easier to designate a hand for 'nasty' things to be done with. it's our social norm, don't like it? MOVE elsewhere abeg,
it is also a muslim thing . but i don't have details.

ATLgal:


Why? because it's not a western tradition? look EVERYONE has their own idiosyncrasies . We have a right to our culture,
many yoruba foods are eaten with the hand. and traditionally communally. it was easier to designate a hand for 'nasty' things to be done with. it's our social norm, don't like it? MOVE elsewhere abeg,
it is also a muslim thing . but i don't have details.

well said!!!

Do you all think that it's just about not using the left hand or using the right hand?
How about using both hands to give to or receive from an elder/superior?

What shall those of us using left say or do, cut it away?
I see nothing wrong in using left hand to give and receive. I use both hands and my action at the time of giving determines the hand i use.

omodapson:

What shall those of us using left say or do, cut it away?
I see nothing wrong in using left hand to give and receive. I use both hands and my action at the time of giving determines the hand i use.

i am left handed too,  but I respect what others want,  i tried to gift a man money and he refused it,  i handed it to him with my right hand. no big whoop,  unless u are one handed it is not a big deal. nobody is telling u not to eat, clean poop or write with it. just don't hand stuff to them with it.
you can respect other people, can't you?

I have been a leftie all my life . . but I know better than to give or receive stuff from a Nigerian with a left hand.

Does not make sense, but it is what it is.

It is our culture.

Some people in Nigeria deliberately try to be disrespectful by using their left hand with you.

If you grew up in Nigeria and you are trying to use left hand with me, I am within my rights to ignore you (despite the fact that I am a leftie as well).

But if you grew up outside of the country, then I would understand perfectly and deal with you as such.

I'm left handed and can't imagine the reason for such an outdated culture?

Does this mean left handed peeps are inferior or we weren't created by the same God, Nigerians have a lot of issues culturally.

I was eating a local dish @ the nysc camp, a female soldier saw me eating with my left hand and made a derogatory sign to her colleague (nudging him to look @ me as well). I did as if I didn't see her, but my friend who saw it took it up. A quarrel started and last last the male soldier apologized for the woman.

Such things no longer bother me, but I do use my left hand to do just about everything except maybe operate a touch screen phone. My right hand does the dirty jobs - like toilet

kayalla:

Me dont see any wrong with giving or recieving with left hand, if people re scared about wipping ynash with left hand, do u know wat they do with right hand?

wake up peeps!

Thank you , sorry but I do too , I only use my left hand for few things, just natural and more comfortable I guess.

But like somebody mentioned if a way of respect for elders,true- when I tell my daughter to give me stuff with right hand not left, she laughs a me like what are you talking about mum they are both my hands God gave me !! lol

it true most folks won't collect things given wit left hand b/c lefthand is used 2 clean nyansh but d irony is that same person handle foods or cook wit both left/right hand e.g hold yam wit left and peel it wit righthand.

I am sure with time lots of people will accept the fact that some people are left handed. Its just a matter of time, the barriers of deep rooted tradition doesn't break overnight.

I am left handed though due to the people i come in contact with I have always been mindful of giving out things with my right hand, my parents never condemned me for using left though and islamically the prophet muhammed says its only satan that use his left hand to eat so muslims dont allow their kids to use left hand to eat. To me its just pure ignorance, as long as its not dirty!

What of those lefties who use their right hands to wipe their butts? I fall into that category Would you rather i gave you something with my right hand or left ? As a leftie though, i was forced to use my right hand to write and eat as a kid, however i still do most things with my left,

You're spot on, Most times I tell people that refuse to take stuff from my left hand after giving them that I use my right to wipe my ass and pick my nose as I am a leftie,
Stupid tradition. If I'm paying for something and I've taken it and d person refuses, I'll walk away with the money or drop it on d floor. If dem like make dem no take deir money, Nonsense!!

It's our tradition and all tribes in the world one or two stupid beliefs.

Do u know in united kingdom they believe that if u breqak a mirror u would suffer seven years of bad luck?

So if u break seven u will have bad luck for the rest of your life.

The left hand thing, I don't rili get it but it's been around for ages. when I was kid, my mom hit my left hand countless times when I was reaching to something or someone. My sis who's a lefty was not allowed to cook. Till date even when my right hand is busy I pass items frm left to right b4 giving em to some1, I just don't kno y! It's not a nigerian thing I hv seen it in many westAf countries.
Peeps do nasty things with BOTH hands so the "poopoo-hand" explanation is not d answer. Let's just limit hand touching & use plenty hand sanitizer