Connotatively, sycophancy can equally be explained as an act of seeking cheap and unmerited favour through eye services of praise singing for someone in better position without putting meaningful efforts for the good of the person or his position.
Sycophants employed deceit and every trickish means in gaining undeserved and selfish favour from any person of their targets. This made it possible that some leaders fall into their traps without any knowledge of such until their leadership is ruined. These sycophants use all manners of tactics to present themselves as most qualified and sincere persons before their targets only for personal favour even to the detriment of the entire society.
This wicked act of sycophancy has been the order of the day in different levels of Nigerian leadership even from the colonial era, military regime to this current democracy, but the worst of it started since 1999 of this current civilian government.
One wonders why our economy continuously sliding backwards. Security of lives and property becoming worst. Our education system becoming mockery before some nations of the world. joblessness among graduate youths becoming forceful tradition with many youths running out of the country in japa syndrome. The energy sector of the country is nothing to ride home about as it continually getting worst.
In all these, the worsening hardship continue biting bitterly on innocent citizens of Nigeria.
This dastardly act of sycophancy has blindfolded some leaders in different levels into going for mediocrity instead of meritocracy. The most incompetent ones are favoured and trusted with public fates of juicy appointive positions as a result of this treacherous characters of sycophants.
Nigerian currency "Naira" exchange rate was less than sixty Naira (#60) per One US Dollar ($1) when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo handed over in 2007 and less than One Hundred and Fifty Naira (#150) when Dr. Goodluck Jonathan handed over to Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 but, the same currency exchange rate today under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is almost Two Thousand Naira (#2,000) per One US Dollar ($1). What a messed economy? A litre of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly called fuel sold between Fifty Naira (#50) to Sixty Naira (#60) at the inception of this current democracy is now between Eight Hundred and Fifty Naira to One Thousand Naira in pretence of removal of fuel subsidy.
Today, average Nigerians cannot afford at least two square meals per day as a result of hardship occasioned by given room to mediocres in leadership positions because of their sycophantic tricks. Substandard infrastructures everywhere, especially roads, bridges, houses, etc. because the quacks who gained assess through sycophancy are more than experts in the sector.
A situation whereby a very senior legal practitioner in the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) was once appointed minister of Works which should be exclusive job of a professional civil engineer was part of this problem of sycophancy. Experts in Journalism (Mass Communication) are often been sidelined while making appointments in Information and Communications sector such as: Ministers; Commissioners; Press Secretaries; SSAs/SAs on Media/Information/Communications; etc. just to settle praise singers.
It is high time Nigerian leaders at all levels take cognizance of these sycophants and negative threats they pose to their leadership and collective interests of the masses. Sycophants are the bad eggs in different levels of government that must be flushed out in order to sanitize our country of bad governance.
Moses Nnabuife Nwekwu,
News Manager/Editor (Broadcast Journalist) writes from Enugu.
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