Perhaps the real offence was never the name “Tony”. Perhaps it was the fact that a young woman forgot, even for a moment, where society expected her to stand.
The recent controversy surrounding Mr Tony Elumelu and a young professional who addressed him by his first name has become a wider conversation about respect, culture and the proper way to address people of seniority. But as a Gen Z sociologist, I find myself less interested in the name she used and more interested in why that name carried so much power in the first place.
Let me be clear: I understand the cultural context. I am Nigerian American, raised in Nigeria, and in Nigerian culture, addressing an elder or someone significantly senior to you by their first name, particularly in a formal setting, is considered disrespectful. I am not arguing otherwise.
But I tend to look at the in-betweens, the things we accept as normal without always asking why they matter so much.
So, why do titles matter this much?
