The Plague of Praise-Singing: How Sycophancy Destroys Nigerian Leadership

In the theater of Nigerian politics, a dangerous delusion has taken root: the fatal mistake of confusing sycophancy with loyalty. Today, the greatest affliction plaguing our nation is not just a lack of resources, but the toxic army of sycophantic praise-singers who barricade our leaders inside an alternate reality of unearned praise.

Our corridors of power are overrun by political jobbers—masquerading under high-sounding titles like Personal Assistants (PAs), Special Advisers (SAs), and Senior Special Assistants (SSAs). Driven solely by the desperate ambition to become overnight millionaires, these transactional gatekeepers have perfected the art of deception. They have made a lucrative career out of refusing to tell their political leaders the simple, unvarnished truth.

The War on Patriotis

The tragedy of this system unfolds whenever a patriotic Nigerian steps forward to highlight glaring leadership lapses:

* The Reflexive Attack: Instead of listening, this defensive wall of political jobbers immediately launches a vicious counter-attack to protect their daily bread.

* The Echo Chamber: They aggressively suppress constructive criticism, ensuring that the true, agonizing voices of the masses never reach the ears of those in power.

* The Leadership Trap: By isolating leaders from reality, they actively discourage them from executing the actual duties of governance.

A Wake-Up Call to Political Leaders

To the Governors, Ministers, Legislators, and Executives who tolerate this circus: beware of the applause.

The PAs and SAs who tell you “all is well” while the streets are crying do not love you; they love your budget. They are feeding your ego while systematically starving your legacy. A leader who surrounds themselves only with echoes is destined for a historic crash.True loyalty does not nod at every policy failure.

True loyalty points out the ditch before the vehicle plunges into it. It is time for Nigerian leaders to dismantle these professional cheering squads, fire the transactional jobbers, and start listening to the patriots who care enough to tell them the painful truth.

Nigeria cannot survive on administrative flattery. Real governance demands reality, not praise-singing.

Darlington Onyebuchi Agoha, a public interest advocate