Wednesday, the 24th of July, has come and gone but not in the hearts of participants of the LEFTIES EXPO ‘24 who realised that they are not alone with the attendance of the First Lady of Kwara State, Her Excellency Amb. Dr. Mrs . Olufolake AbdulRazaq, and the former Permanent Secretary of FCT , Mr . Adesola who are both Left Handed.

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In the opening speech of the Convener, Mrs Adesola Oyinloye -Ndu, she highlighted the need to allow Left Handers also known as South Paws who are only about 10% of the world population live a normal life by inclusion in all areas of life, not limited to the tools and equipment that they use.

H.E Amb. Dr. Mrs Olufolake AbdulRazaq set the tone for participants with her Goodwill Message of strong support for the initiative. She expressed her concerns on how Left Handers are made to use school materials and equipment meant for Right Handers from sharpeners, the pair of scissors, Kitchen Knife to equipment such as keyboards and ATM machines etc, and she highlighted the cultural and societal biases against left Handers.. She narrated how she had often been discriminated against for being left handed even in stores where some shop keepers considered touching their wares meant bad lucks to their sales.

Her Excellency noted that Left Handers should not feel left out as she calls for more local and international partnerships school supports for the south paws, and more awareness for programmes that will improve the welfare and educational pedagogy of Left Handers. She mentioned that Kwara State is already at the fore front of this inclusion.

The immediate past Permanent Secretary of FCT, Mr Adesola on his part asked how strategies can be concentrated on those who are not Left handed to accept Lefties. This was responded to by Her Excellency Amb. Dr. Mrs. Olufolake AbdulRazaq who committed to having the buy-in of the Vice President of Nigeria H.E Kashim Shettima(GCON) to support the initiative. She also requested the need to work more with the National Orientation Agency , NHRC and have more social media presence.

The DG of National Orientation Agency represented by Mr Patrick Chidi , Asst Director, Orientation suggested that the awareness programmes for Lefties should be taken to the traditional leaders as well

Mrs Yemisi Akiele , Director at National Human Rights Commission expressed that forcing a Left handed child to use his or her right hand is infringing on the child’s rights and should be addressed as such legally. However, she said that such legal protection needs to be backed up by policies of the government.

There were 3 international presenters in the hybrid event , with the first being Mark Stewart a British and parent of left handed child who went through teaching techniques and materials for left Handers, Steve MCGuirk an Australian Educator made brief presentation on the importance of developing a child’s natural handedness (by using appropriate equipment and techniques) , and its impact on their future learning. He also strongly supports the need to stop the forceful use of right hand by the left Handers as it often affects their writing and self esteem. Hence, he advocated that Lefties be allowed to use tools meant for them.

Ian Lowden a stockist of Left Handed equipment and materials from the U.K. explained the Left-Handed tools and their use.

Students of Noel College, Kwali made beautiful presentations on Facts about left Handers.

The World of Lefties: Challenges and Triumphs was the Topic for discussion. It was moderated by the Convener Mrs . Adesola Oyinloye-Ndu
The panelists , Mrs Yemisi Akiele of NHRC, Mr. Chidi Patrick of NOA, Mrs Okida Imo, the proprietor of Noel College Kwali and Mrs Tinu Segun-Dipe, an Educator responded to the questions on societal norms , cultural beliefs and religious practices as they affect left handed persons, and they proposed innovations that will make learning easier for left Handers

The excitement of the event got to its peak when Her Excellency, Amb. Dr. Mrs. Olufolake AbdulRazaq in the company of Mr Olusade Adesola, Mrs. Adesola Oyinloye-Ndu and participants at the EXPO unveiled the left handed school materials and equipment not limited to writing materials, pairs of scissors, rulers, measuring tapes, school needs such as calligraphy sets, pencils and crayons , sharpeners, can openers and screws etc.

Awards of unwavering support and, participation in the discussion were given to the 2 special guests and the government agencies in attendance respectively. This was supervised by Mrs. Funmi Braithwaite, an Author.

The Secondary Education Board was well represented by Principals and Teachers of various schools.

The event brought hope to the South paws who may have felt marginalised that there is certainly light at the end of the tunnel starting with the learning materials and techniques in schools.

Rtn. Victor Ojelabi

Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.