In continuation of our discussion of the scare caused by the young lady who recently addressed leading businessman, Mr Tony Elumelu, by his first name, I will first offer some tips on how to avoid the mistake she made. Last week, we established the personal honorifics available to show courtesy, especially in formal situations like the UBA’s graduate trainee programme where Elumelu was interacting with the youths. We shall cover other categories of honorifics today, but I will first offer the tips. RemZ as an ember: honorifics are titles used before a person’s name to show respect, courtesy, or status.
Assume less when you need to address an official, senior, or elder
Whenever you need to address such a person, do not assume they will accept informal references for whatever reason. Toe the formal line instead. If they want anything less, they will say so.
Don’t overgeneralise
The point here is related to the above. Do not say because someone accepts ‘Tom’, say in London or New York, every Elumelu will accept ‘Tony’ here in Nigeria. Be sensitive to cultural and personal differences.
