“The Girl in the Elumelu Video Must be Protected”: Man Reacts to Viral Incident, Explains Why
- Nigerian billionaire Tony Elumelu corrected a young UBA graduate trainee who addressed him by his first name at the GMAP graduation ceremony in Lagos
- Olumide Lawrence Odeyemi, a Nigerian professional, took to Facebook to defend the trainee and explain the cultural clash behind the incident
- Odeyemi argued that the trainee simply followed what she was taught during onboarding, but picked the wrong moment and the most senior person in the room
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A Nigerian professional has stepped into the national conversation sparked by a viral video involving billionaire Tony Elumelu and a young female graduate trainee at a United Bank for Africa event, urging the public to show the young woman grace rather than criticism.
The incident occurred in Lagos at the graduation ceremony for UBA's Graduate Management Accelerated Programme (GMAP), where the trainee addressed Tony Elumelu casually by his first name. Elumelu, the bank's outgoing chairman, responded by correcting her publicly, stating his preference for formal titles and asking her to address him as "Mr Elumelu," "TOE," or "Chairman" instead.
Source: Facebook
Tony Elumelu: Olumide Odeyemi calls for empathy
On August 21, 2026, Olumide Lawrence Odeyemi published a Facebook post urging Nigerians not to crucify the young woman.
He described what unfolded as a culture clash that many young African professionals experience when they enter corporate environments built on Western organisational models.
According to Odeyemi, the trainee was a product of the bank's graduate programme and had simply done what she was trained to do during onboarding. The trouble, he explained, is that company policy and lived cultural reality do not always align, particularly in Nigerian firms that borrow from Western corporate structures.
"What HR leaves out is that corporate policy does not automatically override social culture," Odeyemi wrote, pointing out that senior executives often share the same cultural background as junior staff and may quietly expect traditional markers of respect, even when the company handbook says otherwise.
He noted that in practice, many executives are comfortable with first-name familiarity only after a certain level of rapport has been established. His advice to young professionals was to default to traditional respect, using titles such as "Mr. X," "Sir," or "Ma," until a senior colleague explicitly signals otherwise.
Odeyemi praises the UBA trainee's confidence
Rather than condemn the trainee, Odeyemi praised the composure she showed throughout the exchange, describing her confidence as a quality worth nurturing.
He called on her immediate managers and team members to encourage her rather than allow the public moment to damage her growth.
He also acknowledged the broader irony of corporate life: the same environment that expects employees to show initiative also punishes certain initiatives informally, even when they are policy-compliant.
Read Olumide Odeyemi's full Facebook post below:
Nigerians react to the viral Elumelu incident
@Idaraesit Bill said:
"I learnt and it was one of the reasons I resigned. They had a policy on paper, but crucified me for it. I had to pay a certain amount for following the company's policy. Banking is not for me, too much stress."
@Prince Duma said:
"Train up your Child in the way (s)he should grow so that she will NOT depart from it.......Was she the first to ask a question? Look, you can be academically sound, spiritually upright but morally foolish!"
@Joan Oghogho Osagiede said:
"She could have just said 'Good morning sir' without needing to mention name. Even oga Trump in a western setting is not blatantly called Trump. I don't refer to my MD by name, shey I want make my salary dey on transit with no visa to land😄."
@Ocheche Samari said:
"The clip shouldn't have been posted on the internet."
Video of Stanford student calling Tony Elumelu "Hi Tony"
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that an old video of a Stanford student addressing Tony Elumelu as "Hi Tony" had resurfaced following the recent incident involving a UBA graduate trainee.
The footage originates from a fireside chat at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where Tony Elumelu, the Nigerian billionaire and philanthropist, appeared as a guest for the institution's "View From The Top" speaker series.
During the session, student interviewer Chisom Obi-Okoye opened with a casual "Hi Tony," consistent with the relaxed, first-name culture typical of the academic setting.
Source: Legit.ng
