There was something about the viral video of the young UBA trainee greeting Tony Elumelu that bothered me. It was not the correction itself. Senior executives are entitled to decide how they want to be addressed, and employees should respect that preference once it has been made clear. What bothered me was how quickly a young graduate became the villain in a conversation that may actually tell us much more about corporate communication than about her manners.
The incident occurred during the graduation ceremony of UBA’s 2026 Graduate Management Accelerated Programme. UBA says more than 700 young professionals completed the programme and that more than 5,000 young graduates have gone through GMAP since it began. In the video, the trainee stood up and said, “Good morning, Tony,” after which Elumelu corrected her and told her to call him “Mr Elumelu” or “TOE”.
The young woman immediately adjusted. She repeated the greeting as “Good morning, Mr Elumelu” and continued with her question. There was no argument, no attempt to challenge the chairman and no refusal to comply with his instruction. Yet once the video spread online, the conversation quickly shifted from what happened in that room to what people believed the young woman represented: Gen Z, poor upbringing, lack of respect, low emotional intelligence and the supposed decline of Nigerian values.
