Odita Sunday 
(My Sunday Sermon)
By Ewere Okonta
08037383019
eobnewsmedia@gmail.com
www.ewereokontablog.org.ng
Let’s not pretend anymore. This is campaign season, and once again, the drums are loud, not just from politicians, but from the ever-faithful choir of praise-singers who have turned sycophancy into a full-time profession.
In today’s Nigeria, sycophancy is no longer a side act. It is the main event.
What used to be subtle flattery has now evolved into an aggressive, shameless industry. From party primaries to general elections, from television studios to WhatsApp groups, from podium speeches to social media threads; everywhere you turn, someone is clapping loudly for power, not because it is right, but because it is profitable.
And here is the dangerous part: many now confuse this with loyalty.
Let me say it as clearly as possible, sycophancy is not loyalty. It is political fraud dressed in agbada.
Election Fever and the Rise of Professional Sycophants
This election cycle has exposed us in ways we may not be ready to admit.
Suddenly, everyone is an “ardent supporter.” Overnight, critics have become cheerleaders. Failed policies are being repackaged as “bold reforms.” Economic hardship is now called “strategic sacrifice.” And suffering? That one has been renamed “necessary pain.”
You see the pattern?
A loyal supporter will ask questions. A sycophant will kill the question before it is born.
A loyal party member will say, “We can do better.”
A sycophant will say, “We are already the best.”
Even when the evidence is staring us in the face.
From Aso Rock to the Grassroots: A Culture Gone Viral
This is no longer about the presidency alone. The disease has spread:
• In state politics, governors are treated like emperors. Commissioners clap before they think. Advisers agree before they understand.
• In local governments, chairmen are worshipped like mini-gods, while communities decay in silence.
• In party structures, internal democracy has been buried. Delegates don’t vote conscience, they vote convenience.
And let’s not even start with social media warriors; the new-age sycophants who weaponize insults, attack dissenters, and trend propaganda as if it were national duty.
Nigeria now has more defenders of politicians than defenders of the people.
Think about that.
The Dangerous Illusion of “Everything Is Fine”
The greatest damage sycophancy does is not noise, it is silence.
It silences truth.
When leaders are constantly told they are doing well, even when the streets are groaning, they begin to live in a bubble. A dangerous bubble where:
• Hunger becomes “exaggeration”
• Unemployment becomes “data debate”
• Insecurity becomes “opposition propaganda”
And before long, governance becomes performance, not responsibility.
A nation cannot progress when its leaders are shielded from reality by layers of organized deception.
Let’s Be Honest: Sycophancy Pays, That’s the Problem
If sycophancy didn’t pay, it would have died naturally.
But in our system, it pays; handsomely.
Appointments are given, contracts awarded, favors exchanged, not on competence, but on how loudly you can sing.
We have created a reward system where:
• Integrity is punished
• Honesty is risky
• Silence is safe
• And flattery is currency
So why would the average political actor choose truth over survival?
This is the moral crisis we must confront.
The Anatomy of a Nigerian Political Sycophant
You already know them. In fact, you may be one or you may be surrounded by them.
They:
• Defend every policy, no matter how flawed
• Attack every critic, no matter how sensible
• Rewrite reality to suit power
• Switch allegiance faster than election results are announced
• Have no ideology, only proximity to power
Today they are here. Tomorrow they are there. But always, they are loud.
And What About the Leaders?
Let’s not absolve leadership.
Many leaders enable sycophancy because it is convenient.
It feels good to be praised. It is easier to be celebrated than to be corrected. It is comforting to hear “Yes, sir” than “Sir, this is wrong.”
But here is the bitter truth:
A leader surrounded by sycophants is already in decline, they just don’t know it yet.
History is ruthless with such leaders. It waits. It watches. And when reality finally breaks through, it does so brutally.
This Election Cycle Will Define Us
This moment is critical.
Because what we normalize now will shape what we become.
If we continue like this:
• Elections will become performances, not choices
• Governance will become propaganda, not service
• Citizenship will become spectatorship, not participation
And democracy? Just a word we use during campaigns.
So, What Must Change?
Let’s not overcomplicate it.
For citizens:
Speak. Question. Refuse to be bullied into silence. Democracy dies when people become afraid of their own opinions.
For politicians:
If everyone around you agrees with you, you are either a genius, or you are in danger. And we know which is more likely.
For the system:
Reward competence. Not clapping. Not loyalty theatre. Not political praise poetry.
Final Word: Choose Truth Over Applause
Loyalty is courageous. It tells the truth even when it shakes the table.
Sycophancy is cowardly. It protects the table even when the house is burning.
As we move deeper into this election season, every Nigerian must choose:
Will you be a voice of truth, or an echo of power?
Because in the end, nations are not destroyed by enemies alone.
They are destroyed by the people who refused to speak when it mattered most.
This is my Sunday sermon from a pulpit that refuses to clap when it should question.
Ewere Okonta is the CEO of EOB Media. His is a family values advocate. He writes from the Department of Business Administration, University of Delta, Agbor.
#EOB #sundaysermonwithewere #viral
About the Author
