UBA Group Chairman Tony Elumelu’s recent reaction to a graduate trainee who addressed him by his first name has sparked a wider conversation about age, social status and the changing culture of formal address in Nigeria.
Elumelu reportedly rebuked the trainee for calling him “Tony”, saying he did not “subscribe to that kind of Oyinbo life.” His response has generated debate over whether addressing older people, senior colleagues or social superiors by their first names is genuinely a Western practice and whether such informality is appropriate in Nigerian workplaces.
According to Farooq Kperogi, the practice cannot simply be dismissed as “Oyinbo life” because conventions surrounding names and titles differ significantly across Western societies.
In the United States, for instance, first-name familiarity is common in many workplaces, but it is not universally accepted across all social settings. In parts of the American South and Midwest, addressing an older person or someone of significantly higher social standing by their first name without an invitation can still be considered disrespectful.
Similarly, titles such as Mr, Mrs, Ms, Dr and Professor are still commonly used before surnames when addressing older people, senior professionals or individuals one does not know well.
This convention is particularly noticeable in some African American communities and in many American universities, where students often address lecturers and professors by their titles and surnames unless the academic specifically invites them to use a first name.
A memorable example involving legendary American writer and civil rights activist Maya Angelou illustrates this cultural distinction.
In June 1990, during a recording of the KPIX-TV programme People Are Talking in San Francisco, Angelou reportedly corrected a 20-year-old undergraduate who addressed her simply as “Maya”.
Angelou responded firmly, insisting that the young woman address her as “Miss Angelou”. She explained that her age, experience and roles as an elder, teacher and professor entitled her to a level of respect that included the use of an appropriate title.
Angelou was 62 at the time and had already built an extraordinary career as a writer, poet, educator and public intellectual.
Her response demonstrated that even in American society, which is often perceived from outside as highly informal, age and social status can influence how people are expected to address one another.
That experience bears some resemblance to Elumelu’s reaction to the graduate trainee. Elumelu, who is only a year younger than Angelou was when she made her famous correction, may therefore be understood as responding from a cultural perspective in which age, achievement and social authority command formal recognition.
The issue also raises an important distinction between different Western cultures.
The situation in Britain, for example, is somewhat different. Although British society historically maintained an elaborate system of social titles and formal address, many of those conventions began to weaken significantly from the 1960s.
Today, first-name usage is widespread in Britain, including across differences in age and professional rank. University students in many British institutions commonly address lecturers and professors by their first names, something that may still seem remarkably informal in many American universities.
This cultural difference can sometimes create confusion for students and professionals moving between countries.
Kperogi recalls an experience involving British exchange students in an American university department who were surprised to discover that, in many US academic environments, addressing lecturers or professors by their first names without permission can be viewed as highly disrespectful.
The situation is somewhat different in primary and secondary schools in Britain, where students generally do not address teachers by their first names.
Beyond Britain and the United States, continental Europe offers yet another example of how forms of address vary. In many European countries, age, status and social distance continue to be marked through honorifics, formal pronouns and other linguistic conventions.
The differences demonstrate that first-name familiarity is by no means a universal feature of “European” or Western culture.
Against this background, the practice observed in some Nigerian corporate environments may be better understood as a product of changing workplace culture rather than simply an adoption of foreign customs.
Over the years, many Nigerian banks and other elite institutions have deliberately promoted informal communication between senior executives and junior employees in an effort to create more approachable and less rigid workplaces.
The use of first names has become part of this corporate culture, intended in some cases to break down hierarchical barriers and encourage open communication.
Ironically, Elumelu himself is regarded as one of the prominent figures associated with this transformation in Nigerian corporate culture.
The disagreement involving the graduate trainee therefore raises an interesting contradiction. A corporate environment may encourage employees to relate informally with senior executives while an individual leader may still expect the traditional conventions of age and status to be observed.
Ultimately, the question is less about whether first-name address is “Oyinbo” and more about the social rules attached to respect in different cultures and institutions.
Names are not merely labels. In many societies, the way a person is addressed communicates familiarity, respect, distance, status and even affection.
Nigeria, like many culturally diverse countries, is navigating a transition between traditional systems of hierarchy and more modern workplace cultures that emphasise informality and accessibility.
Neither approach is inherently superior. What matters is understanding the expectations of a particular environment and recognising that informal language does not have the same meaning everywhere.
Elumelu’s reaction has therefore opened a broader conversation about how Nigerians should balance cultural respect for age and achievement with the increasingly informal conventions of modern corporate life.
The lesson may be that first-name address should not be automatically condemned as foreign or accepted as universally appropriate. Context, culture, consent and mutual understanding remain crucial.
A junior employee who addresses a senior executive by first name may intend friendliness rather than disrespect, just as a senior executive who insists on a title may be expressing a deeply rooted expectation of respect.
The challenge for modern workplaces is finding a balance between accessibility and appropriate recognition of authority.
