By Enitan Abdultawab
Nollywood actress Shaffy Bello has said she expects younger people to show respect by using appropriate titles rather than calling elders by their first names.
Her comments come amid the viral exchange between UBA Chairman Tony Elumelu and a young woman who addressed him as “Tony” during a recent event. Elumelu corrected her, asking to be called “Mr Elumelu” or “TOE,” sparking a wider debate about respect, age and the practice of addressing older people by their first names.
Bello, while speaking about her own experiences in a recent podcast, said she does not take kindly to being addressed simply as “Shaffy” by people significantly younger than her.
“When a child calls me by my name, Shaffy, I pull them closer and tell them, ‘You haven’t earned the right, and you never will,’” she said.
