Mo Abudu Has Reminded Nigerian Youth That “Mo” Is Not for Everybody

Mo Abudu has entered the increasingly complicated Nigerian conversation about respect, and she has made one thing very clear: if you are young, please do not casually call her “Mo” as if the two of you attended secondary school together. Speaking during a conversation with Toke Makinwa on Toke Moments, the EbonyLife founder said she is “very traditional” because she was raised by her grandmother in Ondo, and therefore does not appreciate younger people calling her by her first name “anyhow.”

And honestly, Nigerian society has been waiting for this conversation because we have reached a strange point where a 23-year-old can meet a 61-year-old executive for the first time and say, “Hi, Mo,” with the confidence of somebody who has known her since primary school.

This is partly the fault of modern corporate culture. First-name culture has become increasingly normal in offices, especially among younger professionals. Everybody is “David,” “Sarah,” “Tony” and “Mo.” Nobody is “Sir” anymore unless the person is your father, your landlord or the man who just caught you parking in the wrong place.

But Nigeria has another operating system.

Here, age is not just a number. Age is a title generator.

Somebody can be 34, and you are already calling them Aunty because your mother told you that the person is older than you. You can meet a woman for the first time and immediately begin calculating whether “Madam,” “Ma,” “Aunty” or “Mummy” is the safest option. Because one wrong title and suddenly the greeting you planned has become a career development seminar.

Mo Abudu's position is particularly interesting because she is not merely asking for respect based on age. She is speaking from a very traditional understanding of hierarchy, where how you address someone communicates how you regard them.

And perhaps Nigerian young people need to accept that not every older person wants to participate in the “we are all colleagues here” experiment.

Sometimes, you simply have to read the room.

If the person has spent decades building companies, creating television platforms, and establishing herself as one of Nigeria's most prominent media entrepreneurs, maybe “Aunty Mo” is not such a difficult adjustment.

Besides, Nigeria has already given us enough unnecessary problems.

There is no need to add “I called my boss by her first name and now I am unemployed” to the list.