Call me Mr Elumelu: Sowore condemns backlash against UBA trainee, demands psychosocial support

Abdullateef Fowewe

Human rights activist and presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore has condemned the public backlash against a female trainee in UBA’s Graduate Management Accelerated Programme (GMAP), who went viral after addressing the bank’s chairman, Tony Elumelu, by his first name during a public session.

The incident, which occurred at a recent GMAP graduation event in Lagos, sparked widespread debate after Elumelu corrected the trainee on stage, saying he should be addressed as “Mr Elumelu,” “TOE” or “Chairman.”

Reacting to the controversy, Sowore said the episode should not be reduced to a clash between African cultural values and Western-style corporate etiquette.

He described it instead as evidence of entrenched social hierarchy in Nigeria.

“This was not a ‘culture clash’; it was a class war,” Sowore said.

“A reflection of the deeply entrenched hierarchy and class consciousness that too often determines who is considered entitled to demand deference and who is expected to provide it,” he added.

Sowore said a similar situation involving the children of wealthy or influential Nigerians would likely attract little criticism.

“If Tony Elumelu’s son or daughter addressed the family gateman or driver by his first name, hardly any Nigerian would bat an eyelid.

“Many of the same people outraged by this young woman calling him ‘Tony’ would probably expect the gateman or driver to address Elumelu’s children with exaggerated deference. That tells you immediately that this argument is not really about ‘African culture’ or respect,” he said.

According to Sowore, the controversy is fundamentally about “class, status, wealth and power,” including who society permits to speak casually and who is expected to show heightened deference.

He said a senior UBA management official contacted him over his views on the treatment of the trainee, adding that he urged the bank to provide immediate psychosocial support for her amid the intense online reaction.

“Given the enormous public opprobrium, ridicule, and attacks this young woman has been subjected to, UBA must immediately provide her with appropriate psychosocial support.

“Whatever anyone thinks about how she addressed Tony Elumelu, no young employee or trainee should be left alone to absorb the psychological consequences of suddenly becoming the target of a massive public controversy,” Sowore added.

He added that the trainee “should not be sacrificed on the altar of corporate hierarchy or social-media outrage,” stressing that her “dignity, welfare and mental well-being must come first.”

Sowore concluded, “Let the poor breathe.”