"What Wrong Has The Lady Done?" Catholic Priest Reacts to Tony Elumelu, UBA Staff Saga
- A Catholic priest publicly weighed in on the viral moment a UBA graduate trainee greeted billionaire Tony Elumelu with 'Good morning, Tony'
- Tony Elumelu corrected the female trainee at a UBA graduation ceremony, telling her to address him as 'Mr. Elumelu' or 'TOE' instead
- The priest questioned why Nigerians were angry at the trainee, pointing out that using first names is standard practice in formal Western settings
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Fr Kelvin Ugwu, a Catholic priest and public commentator, has entered the debate surrounding the now-viral exchange between billionaire Tony Elumelu and a female graduate trainee at a United Bank for Africa event, arguing that the young woman did nothing wrong.
The incident took place during a graduation ceremony for UBA's Graduate Management Accelerated Programme, where the female trainee stood up to address Elumelu and opened with "Good morning, Tony."
Source: UGC
The UBA chairman corrected her on the spot, stating that he does not subscribe to the informal "oyinbo" way of life and that she should refer to him as "Mr. Elumelu" or "TOE."
Catholic priest reacts to Tony Elumelu saga
Writing on Facebook on 21 August 2026, Fr Ugwu challenged the wave of public criticism directed at the trainee, arguing that the setting itself was entirely Western in nature, making first-name address entirely appropriate.
The priest also pointed to an apparent inconsistency in Elumelu's position, noting that a Stanford student had previously interviewed the billionaire and addressed him as "Tony," to which Elumelu responded with a calm "thank you."
Beyond the protocol debate, Fr Ugwu used his post to raise a sharper question about why ordinary Nigerians were turning on one of their own rather than interrogating the power dynamic at play.
He said in his Facebook post:
"Let me ask you this question: why are you angry with the UBA girl because she called Tony Elumelu by his first name?"
"My simple guess is simply because Tony is a billionaire."
"It was a formal setting, and in a formal setting, calling people by their first name is the appropriate format. Nothing wrong with that."
"It is just like a formal letter; there is a format for writing a formal letter."
"Tony Elumelu says he does not subscribe to being called “Tony” because he does not follow Oyibo or Western bla bla bla, but everything around the setting-the dressing, the language, and the formalities-is all Western."
"Besides, there is a video where a Stanford student interviewed him and called him “Tony,” and he responded with a calm “thank you.” Why the double standard?"
"The point is, what wrong has the lady done formally? I mean FORMALLY…."
"If you want to judge her by your traditional meeting standard, remember the setting is not a traditional meeting."
"It is okay that Tony Elumelu does not want her to call him “Tony.” Also, the girl never did anything wrong by calling him Tony. Two truths can coexist."
"Why are poor people dragging their fellow poor person?"
"This social media space, I don’t understand you people. Una attention span is so short."
"With the speed of light, una move from Peter P Square to VDM. Before we digest it, una move to Davido and his uncle. From there, una move to the titles of books about husbands being useless or dragging wives to mud. Before we know it, we are talking about Agatha and the veneration of her skull. E no even reach one day, Tony and his employee are now trending as though it is a national issue."
"This is how we minor in the major and major in the minors."
See the Catholic priest's post reacting to Tony Elumelu's saga below:
Man reacts to Tony Elumelu incident
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Olumide Lawrence Odeyemi, a Nigerian professional, took to Facebook to defend the trainee and explain the cultural clash behind the Tony Elumelu 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.
Source: Legit.ng
