For three days, Nigerian social media has been consumed by a single sentence: “Good morning, Tony.”
At the UBA Graduate Management Accelerated Programme (GMAP) graduation in Lagos, a young trainee greeted Chairman Tony Elumelu by his first name. Elumelu immediately corrected her: “You won’t call me Tony. You’ll call me Mr Elumelu, or TOE, or Chairman. I don’t subscribe to that kind of Oyinbo life.” The trainee adjusted, said “Good morning, Mr Elumelu,” and asked her question.
Since then, the incident has sparked heated debate. The trainee has been branded defiant, untrained, even poorly raised. Celebrities have weighed in, strangers have offered her money, and the controversy has trended across platforms.
But according to Nigerian journalist and commentator Oludare Ogunlana, the young woman did nothing wrong. In a detailed statement titled “Good Morning, Tony: The Policy, The Stage, and The Scapegoat,” Ogunlana argued that the trainee was simply following UBA’s own institutional culture.
“The young lady did what UBA trained her to do. If Mr Tony Elumelu wants a different culture, the fix belongs in the training manual, not on a stage in front of 374 graduates and a camera,” Ogunlana wrote.
He explained that UBA’s first-name policy was introduced as part of its flat, modern, pan-African identity, championed by Elumelu himself. Trainees were explicitly told to address senior executives by their first names, including the Group Managing Director. A former GMAP trainee has confirmed this publicly, and UBA has not denied it.
Ogunlana suggested the incident may have been a stage show that backfired—an attempt to showcase progressive culture that instead humiliated a trainee. He compared UBA’s policy to editorial standards at Premium Times, which consistently uses “Mr” or “Mrs” regardless of titles, noting that institutions must own the cultures they create.
He also pointed to a 2022 Stanford Graduate School of Business video where Elumelu was greeted with “Hi Tony” without objection, underscoring the inconsistency between international and local contexts.
“An institution cannot teach a practice on Monday and punish it on Thursday,” Ogunlana stressed.
As Elumelu’s 12-year tenure as Chairman ended the day after the ceremony, Ogunlana argued that leadership requires owning the culture one builds—even when it produces unexpected outcomes.
To the trainee, he offered reassurance: “You did nothing wrong. You followed your training, you took the correction with grace, and you finished your question. That is composure under pressure, and it will serve you well.”
And to Nigerians, he issued a reminder: “The cost of living, power supply, roads, hospitals, schools, and a national team that cannot win are the things that should keep us angry. Not a greeting.”
