Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has publicly criticized what he described as the “excessively large” and intimidating security detail accompanying Seyi Tinubu, the son of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Speaking at the 20th Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) Awards in Lagos, the playwright recounted a recent personal encounter that left him “astonished” and prompted him to contact the National Security Adviser.’
Professor Soyinka narrated the scene he witnessed at a hotel in Ikoyi, Lagos, where the president’s son was being guarded. Stating he saw what looked like a “small battalion” of security operatives, noting he counted at least “15 or so heavily armed to the teeth” officials, including what appeared to be SWAT personnel.
He initially mistook the scene for a film production set. He only realized the gravity of the deployment when a young man, later identified as Seyi Tinubu, approached him politely.
Upon learning the entire escort was for the president’s son, Soyinka expressed disbelief, saying: “I couldn’t believe that a child of the head of state goes around with an army for his protection.”
The Nobel Laureate stressed that his concern goes beyond mere privilege to the critical issue of national security priority at a time when Nigeria is battling widespread banditry and kidnappings.
Soyinka argued that devoting such a large contingent of armed personnel, resources urgently needed on the frontlines, to a private individual undermines the country’s security framework.
He delivered a direct caution to the children of elected officials: “Children should know their place. They are not potentates. They are not elected leaders, and they must not inherit the architecture of state power simply by proximity.”
Soyinka also made a sarcastic comment regarding the recent foiled coup in Benin Republic, joking that the President should not have deployed the military but should have instead called on Seyi Tinubu, given the “troops under his command,” adding that “beyond the humour lies a serious matter of priority and fairness.”
The criticism comes just weeks after President Tinubu ordered the withdrawal of police officers attached to Very Important Persons (VIPs) to redeploy them to core police duties, an order that appears to be selectively enforced or bypassed by high-profile political families.
