Sycophancy Nigeria Unlimited

By Olusegun Adeniyi

When my authority inspires sycophancy, I have no followers, only resentful manipulators of my power for their own selfish gain—George Kunz

Released last week, the World Bank’s Food Security Update Report listed Nigeria among countries that have seen a significant rise in the number of people facing acute food shortages when compared with the previous year. If the situation in the country is worse than the 2023 Global Hunger Index (GHI) report which classified Nigeria as having “a level of hunger that is serious,” one can only imagine the gravity of the deprivation our people are facing. And just Tuesday, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the latest Consumer Price Index report revealing that the headline inflation rate for September rose to 32.70 percent. Year-on-year inflation surged by 5.98 percent points. Sadly, our lawmakers gleefully tell us to scavenge for food anywhere we can find a free meal. That’s the latest ‘gospel’ according to St. Akpabio. But then, we have a National Assembly whose members seem blind, deaf and dumb about the existential challenges in Nigeria today.

To satisfy the preference of President Bola Tinubu for the old national anthem, the National Assembly initiated and passed the ‘National Anthem Bill, 2024’ for Nigerians to move from singing ‘Arise O Compatriots,’ to ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’ on the first anniversary of the current administration. A day later, the same National Assembly named their library after the president. Two months after that, lawmakers amended the police act in one day (first, second and third reading) so that the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun could enjoy an elastic tenure at the pleasure of the president. And now, a bill seeking to establish the Bola Tinubu University in Aba, Abia State to teach Nigerian languages has passed the first reading in the House of Representatives. Sponsored by Deputy Speaker Ben Kalu, the co-sponsors are Inuwa Garba, Nasiru Shehu, Alex Ikwechegh, Bako Useni, Amobi Ogah, Akin Rotimi, Halims Abdullahi, and Felix Nwaeke.

To be sure, sycophancy has always been a national pastime in Nigeria. That explains why the birthday ceremonies of political office holders and that of their spouses as well as the burial ceremonies of their parents have become state functions. Even within religious institutions, we see how the Papas and Mamas are worshipped sometimes more than the God from whom those individuals claim to have secured their spiritual mandates. Yet, as I have argued in the past on this same issue, when you create an environment in which leaders are hero-worshipped, as is the case in Nigeria today, development is a mirage, and the people are the ultimate losers.

In her piece on the danger of sycophancy, Aasha Mehreen Amin, a famous Bangladeshi journalist, wrote that leaders who surround themselves with sycophants are vulnerable to the malaise of becoming blinded in the smog created by these yes men and yes women. “These are not the people who genuinely care about the leader or act in the leader’s best interest,” she wrote. “No, these are the individuals who will never fail to flatter the leader at the drop of a hat and will always agree with whatever the leader says – just so they stay in favour and accrue some benefit.” But it will take perceptive leaders to understand that. 

My main concern is that sycophancy is being institutionalised under the current administration. A few days before leaving office in May last year, President Mohammadu Buhari directed that 15 of the federal airports in the country be named after prominent Nigerians and it was difficult to fault the list. The one in the Niger State capital was named ‘Mallam Abubakar Imam International Airport, Minna’. But early this year, Governor Umar Bago renamed the airport ‘Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Airport’. Beyond sullying the memory of the late Imam—a respected journalist and contemporary of the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe in precolonial days who is regarded as a premier figure in Hausa literature—the Niger State governor was allowed to overturn the decision of a former president on something within the Exclusive (federal) List in the Constitution!

That provides a ready backdrop to some of the decisions being taken by the National Assembly. Sadly, when an institution saddled with the primary responsibility of serving as a check on the excesses of the executive would rather play the role of sycophant, the needs and aspirations of the people they are supposed to serve are lost. That point was made so eloquently by Dr Gai Chol Paul, a South Sudanese scholar and author of ‘The Stolen Nation’ in the piece, ‘How Sycophancy Destroys a Nation’. The reason why some nations are unable to progress despite having all the resources and potential, according to him, lies in the toxic culture of sycophancy. “In a nation where sycophancy is rampant, meritocracy is replaced by favouritism and nepotism, leading to the downfall of the nation.”

Sycophancy creates a culture of mediocrity where people are rewarded not for their competence and hard work, but for their ability to flatter and please those in power, Paul further argued. “The brilliance of sycophants lies in the way they will make the leader believe that the conclusion that has been arrived at, the decision that has been made, is completely of their own accord. The fact that the leader has been influenced with slow poisoning, that the outcome serves the sycophant’s agenda, will never be detected,” he wrote. “It will leave the leader more and more clueless about what is really going on while pushing them further away from the people they are leading. It will give them a false sense of invincibility and grandeur. The leader will become more and more vulnerable to the lies of the sycophants. Eventually, they will stand helpless in front of a wall that has cracked in too many places.”

The first inclination of leaders surrounded by sycophants is to believe they are above the law. Once hooked on such an idea, they begin to crave constant applause from these professional flatterers, even when the people they are supposed to serve are no longer with them. It is a dangerous place to be for any leader. Seven years ago, when I wrote on this same issue of sycophancy to warn then President Muhammadu Buhari, I illustrated my point with the Biblical story of King Ahab of Israel, who sought the collaboration of King Jehoshaphat of Judah in his bid to reclaim a city. While Jehoshaphat agreed to the request, he advised Ahab to first seek God’s counsel. “Go, for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand”, the 400 prophets quickly assembled by Ahab roared. But being more circumspect, Jehoshaphat asked: “Is there not a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?”

Jehoshaphat must have seen through these 400 palace prophets, the leading advisers of Ahab, and concluded there was no point relying on the prophecy of sycophants. His question provoked a predictable response from Ahab, as recorded in second Chronicles Chapter 18, Verse 7: “The King of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, ‘There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me…He is Micaiah the son of Imlah.”

Invariably, Ahab was simply seeking validation for a decision he had already taken, even if it was wrong. And those 400 prophets were ‘his men’—people who always told him what he wanted to hear. We have several such well-placed individuals at practically all levels of governance in Nigeria. They are, as George Kunz described them, resentful manipulators of power for their own selfish gain. But for dancing to the tune of sycophants, the story ended tragically for King Ahab.

This dreadful culture of sycophancy is deeply rooted in our society so President Tinubu should be wary of the antics of bootlickers. Nigeria is in a very bad place today and millions of citizens are going through harrowing times, not knowing where the next meal would come for their families. Since that is not what his sycophants are telling him, the president must begin to immunize himself against the ‘400 prophets’ in the National Assembly, Federal Executive Council and among State Governors. They do not mean well for him, and they care even less about the country.

DNA and the Crisis of Paternity

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recently published a damning report on Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) testing trends in Nigeria based on findings by a leading DNA testing centre in Lagos. According to the report, 27 per cent of paternity tests conducted came back negative, indicating that more than one in four men tested are not the biological fathers of the children in question. Most of the tests (85.9 per cent), the report further reveals, were conducted for ‘Peace of Mind’, rather than legal motivations. “These findings offer a unique window into the changing dynamics of Nigerian families and society” said Elizabeth Digia, the operations manager at Smart DNA which conducted the survey. “The high rate of negative paternity tests and the surge in immigration-related testing are particularly noteworthy. They reflect broader societal trends that merit further discussion and research. The concentration of testing in Lagos also raises important questions about accessibility and awareness of DNA testing services across Nigeria.”

Four years ago, a Delta State High Court Judge claimed that DNA tests conducted on three children from his first marriage revealed that he is not their biological father. The Judge detailed how he first received an anonymous message questioning the fatherhood of the youngest. When that information proved to be true, DNA tests were extended to the others. The Judge further explained that his decision to address the press on the matter was “to prevent damaging speculations, half-truths and outright lies from persons who may want to cash in on the tragedy that has befallen” his home while leaving his ex-wife “and her boyfriend or boyfriends to their conscience”.

Following the publication, I wrote a column, ‘I am Not Your Father’. Although the DNA tests may have brought to light infidelities concealed for two decades, the real damage of that tragic saga, as I wrote back then, was to the innocent children who had become young adults. By publicly disowning them, the Judge conferred on them the ‘bastard’ stigma in a society where victims suffer consequences for the transgressions of others.

Ordinarily, DNA tests are used in forensic criminal investigations to match suspect(s) with evidence collected from crime scenes. They also help to determine victims of mass disasters, (for instance, an earthquake or plane crash) and now also for immigration purposes. While most countries have laws governing the use of DNA in paternity matters, Nigeria appears not to have any, leading to a gross abuse of this scientific method. In countries where DNA has become common, there are strict laws to protect the privacy and rights of the child whose paternity may be in question.

In the age in which we live, people must understand the limits of DNA, current trends in parenting and family dynamics as well as how nurture has literally supplanted nature. In the end, a child (whether biological or by adoption) brings us comfort and is a product of our love and care. In the United States, federal agencies that regulate genetic tests include the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). They are regulated and evaluated on three criteria, including how well the test predicts the presence or absence of a particular gene or genetic change and whether the tests consistently and accurately detect whether a specific genetic variant is present.

Considering the increasing popularity of DNA testing in Nigeria, we need to borrow from other countries by putting in place the requisite regulation that will address all salient issues in the sector.

NICN Lecture: What I Said

Dear Mr Adeniyi,

I attended the National Industrial Court of Nigeria Legal Year lecture on 9 October 2024 where you delivered a lecture which I commented on. In your column in THISDAY Newspaper last week, you noted my comment but did not reflect it fully. In your said column, you wrote that I said that the (Federal High) Court did not restrain the Police (in the case filed by the APC against the Police, INEC and others). But you did not go further to state the full position in my comment being that the court in that case did not restrain the Police from carrying out its duties but rather ordered them not to give security cover to the Rivers State Electoral Commission regarding the conduct of the local government election of 5th October in the State, as the condition precedent for having it had not been met. The above position is clearly spelt out in orders 3 and 6 of the judgment, a certified true copy of which you acknowledged has been availed you by Mr Jibrin Okutepa, SAN. Please, it is hoped that you will clarify my position in your next column.

–Nnamonso Ekanem, SAN

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