There is a video of Tony Elumelu politely correcting a young lady for referring to him as “Tony”. And I believe there is a greater debate to be had beneath that clip.

According to video, the young lady had approached the billionaire while he was at the UBA induction seminar where she referred to him as Tony. The man politely but firmly corrected her by saying that she could refer to him as “Mr. Elumelu” or “T.O.E.” He further mentioned that the custom of addressing everyone as first name is “that kind of oyinbo life.”

Thank you, Mr. Elumelu, for politely correcting her. In the same way, I do not support Media houses referring to President Tinubu as merely Tinubu or Pastor Adeboye as Adeboye. And so on.

Public relations says, if you can’t address a man by his corporate or academic title, then Mr, Madam, or Mrs is good.

Not that there is anything wrong with addressing people as their first names. That is not the case. There are many organizations where such a practice is common. But there is a culture we shouldn’t lose as we adopt the modernity: respect for cultures.

The business world should not strip us of our culture.

At times, I question myself about how much of the things that the younger generation views as normal might have been influenced by Western movies, television, social media and internet. We are exposed to so much international content that certain social norms have gradually become ours.

We see children addressing their parents in movies using their first names. We see workers addressing their CEOs using their first names. And then we see college students addressing their professors using their first names. Gradually, we begin to think that this is sophistication.

But it is not necessarily sophistication. At times, it might just be a different culture.

It is not wrong to learn from other cultures. In fact, we should. There is no way we can survive in this interconnected world without learning from each other. However, adopting something without understanding its culture might make us imitations of modernity.

This is where, in my opinion, organisations should take part.

You can create an innovative and internationally competitive organisation without forgetting the cultural values of the society you are running within. You can let your employees say whatever they want, disagree with whatever and question everything without making them believe that respect is obsolete.

The fact that we are part of the corporate world doesn’t imply that we suddenly become Europeans or Americans.

In my previous workplace, it took me roughly three months to stop saying “Sir” or “Ma” automatically whenever I was addressing any of my superior managers. I wasn’t doing it because I was afraid of them. I was doing it because there was something to respect – their age, experience and position within the company.

And yes, excessive hierarchy has its drawbacks. At times, “Sir” and “Ma” could be used as instruments of intimidation. At times, junior members of staff might become too scared to voice their opinions. Respect might become demanded but not earned. It happens, and the problem needs to be addressed by organizations.

The problem doesn’t need to be solved by eliminating all respect from workplaces. There is a difference between creating a friendly environment and eliminating all hierarchies at an office.

On the contrary, I believe that proper forms of addressing help define hierarchies.

You can disagree with your manager while still addressing him as “Sir.” You can criticize your boss’s actions without insulting him. You can work side-by-side with a senior manager while still acknowledging your different status, responsibility and experience.

Respect doesn’t make a workplace less progressive; sometimes, it makes it more professional.

The irony here is that most Western organisations that created this first-name culture have excellent professional boundaries. It does not matter if someone calls his CEO by his first name; this means that an employee cannot talk to him any way he likes. Language does not change the rules, expectations and consequences.

So maybe the lesson here is not that we should shun Western corporate culture.

Maybe the lesson here is that we should stop imitating the superficiality of other cultures and forget our culture.

We can be modern and African at the same time. We can be global and Nigerian at the same time. We can create businesses that can challenge the best businesses in the world and still retain our values that helped us define community, age, experience and respect.

And maybe that is why the Elumelu video is worth talking about.

The young lady might not have been disrespecting him; she might simply have internalized a different way of handling business communication. However, it is only through correction that one can learn. Therefore, Mr. Elumelu was justified to tell her how she ought to address him.

At times, one has to be told: This is not the way we do things here. This does not mean being backward. At times, it is simply culture.

See you tomorrow.

Oluboba Ayodeji.