What the ell?

Okay, I demand an explanation! It’s taken me a week to figure out a linguistic quirk when Lagosians speak English. My host sister told me she “hates rice” and “hates yam,” so I was a bit surprised when she kept serving rice and yam. Then she asked me how I was coping with the “eat,” and when I said it was delicious she looked very confused. It’s finally dawned on me that she switches the pronunciation of words starting with “h” and words starting with a vowel. So she “eats” rice and yam and is concerned how I’m faring with the “heat.” I’ve noticed it when speaking to plenty of other Nigerians, but I can’t come up with a possible explanation. Anybody?