by Alexander O. Onukwue

So Twitter people have been having a conversation about the appropriateness of the use of titles to greet following the tweet by Assistant Commissioner of Police, Abayomi Shogunle.

The ACP frowned at what would appear to be the disrespect shown him by someone who apparently slid into him DM, referring to him by his first name. It irked him because, according to him, the fellow had not been born when ACP Shogunle entered the Police Force.

Summarily, the young man or lady, who was not more than 25 years of age, should have prefaced his or her remark with a ‘Mr’ or referred to the ACP with the official designator ‘Officer’.

Barring a few, majority of the Republic of Nigerian Twitter has not taken sides with Oga Shogunle. The replies to his tweet are that he should know that the very nature of Twitter is to break through the bounds of the usual formalities in communication that may be obtainable in physical meetings. Some others have blamed the quibbling of this type as being one of the reasons why we do not focus on more important matters. A number of other persons observe that provided nothing factually offensive is not said, there should be no need for the officer to feel not respected.

To be sure, the officer does not say that the absence of a title in addressing him connotes any offense, but that it does not fit into the Nigerian culture of showing honour to whom it is due, according to differences in age. Understanding the nature of the Police as a body where much emphasis is placed on order and hierarchy, it would not be lost on us that the ACP is only reflecting the norm within his own organisation.

However, he would have expected these kinds of greetings on twitter, because it is part of the purpose of social media to soften the harder borders of physical conversations. Everyone handle comes with the same set of privileges, with same 140-character limits binding on all, unlike in “real life” where some animals are more equal than the other.

Editor