A sycophant is a person who acts obsequiously towards someone important in order to gain personal advantage. Sycophants attempt to win favor from influential people by flattery.
Some years back, when I was still a boy at the uni, one toady executive took this to absurd lengths – copying Mr. Museveni’s look, décor, dress, and mannerisms. Unfortunately, it went too far and became creepy. Problems ensued when the opportunistic barracuda had so transformed his own small world through blandishments that he began to lose touch with reality.
Pity Gravity! He is driven just as much by a pathological fear of disagreeing with someone as he is by the strategic belief that constant hostile and spiteful behavior towards Bobi Wine will give him a career advantage. His cheap behavior distinguishes a truly despicable sycophant, ingratiating himself to those with whom he is currying favor. The suck-up has only registered mild differences of opinion – to show that he has some independence of mind. The Ugandan population as a whole is becoming more tolerant to dimwits as the regime gets more and more accustomed to flattery.
Therefore, Gravity’s sycophancy not only undermines his personal dignity but confers no meaningful benefit on its recipients. Its prevalence should be seen as harmful and retrogressive by everyone. According to research by Oregon State University, sycophancy and kowtowing (Mukasa Mbidde’s diction) can really sap energy leading to a drop in efficiency and a tendency towards irritability.
Unfortunately for Gravity, Mr. Museveni is a shrewd person. One may think that he is flattered by a small group of mediocre mortals, but he’s not easily fooled. Over the years, he has learnt the art of distinguishing between those who are genuine followers and those who are insincere bootlickers. Bobi Wine ain’t Uganda’s problem, no! It’s lack of justice, civility and reason. In countries where there’s sanity, the minister of defence would have resigned long ago over the mysterious disappearance of civilians. Sadly, these sycophants have emotional intelligence close to zero, and hence cannot really form honest discussions as they have sold their souls!
Good News: Fortunately, Ugandans ain’t gullible anymore. They have learnt through the years, “Never interrupt your enemy when he’s making a mistake.” Music lovers and party animals have taken retribution regarding concerts of many a back-scratcher. I need not mention their names here, but I foresee a tragic nosedive to this arrogant wannabe’s music career. As they blurt out their mediocrity, their modus operandi is venomous, unless you know how to handle them.
Michael Bassey Johnson: Buy a gift for a dog, and you’ll be amazed at the way it will dance and swerve its tail, but if you don’t have anything to offer to it, it wont even recognize your arrival; such are the attributes of sycophants.
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