Nigerian billionaire businessman and United Bank for Africa (UBA) Group Chairman, Tony Elumelu, has sparked a viral conversation on corporate etiquette after correcting a young employee who addressed him simply by his first name.

The exchange occurred during the induction and graduation ceremony for the latest cohort of UBA’s Graduate Management Accelerated Programme (GMAP).

Taking the microphone during an interactive session, a female graduate trainee greeted the business mogul with, "Good morning, Tony."

Surprised by the casual address, Elumelu gently called her to order and clarified his preferences.

"Okay. No, you won't call me Tony. You'll call me Mr Elumelu or Chairman. I don't subscribe to that kind of… Oyinbo life, okay?" Elumelu remarked.

The trainee promptly corrected herself, responding with "Good morning, Mr Elumelu," before proceeding with her question.

A video of the interaction quickly spread across platforms like X and Instagram, triggering a debate over workplace hierarchy, cultural values, and generational shifts.

Many netizens defended Elumelu’s response, emphasizing that hierarchy and traditional African values of respect for authority should take precedence.

Others came to the trainee's defense, suggesting that modern corporate training programmes, including many fintechs and multinationals operating in West Africa, explicitly encourage employees to address colleagues and executives by their first names.

Watch the video below:

The moment a woman casually addressed billionaire Tony Elumelu as “Tony” while speaking at an event pic.twitter.com/DtAFMAnLau

— Instablog9ja (@instablog9ja) August 20, 2026