Prof Wole Soyinka alarmed by amount of Security personnel escorting Seyi Tinubu slams the President

Prof Wole Soyinka alarmed by amount of Security personnel escorting Seyi Tinubu slams the President

Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka has raised concerns over what he views as an unnecessary and disproportionate security presence around members of President Bola Tinubu’s family, warning that such displays divert attention from Nigeria’s real security challenges.

Speaking at the 20th Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) Awards in Lagos on Tuesday, Soyinka recounted a recent experience at a hotel in Ikoyi, where he encountered what he described as a “battalion-level” security detail attached to the president’s son.

He said the scene initially appeared so exaggerated that he assumed a movie production was underway.

“I was coming out of my hotel, and I saw what looked like a film set,” he said.

“A young man detached himself from the actors, came over and greeted me politely. When I asked if they were shooting a film, he said no. I looked around and there was nearly a whole battalion occupying the hotel grounds.”

Soyinka said he counted about 15 heavily armed operatives forming a tight security ring around the president’s son, a level of force he found unsettling.

“When I got back in my car and asked the driver who the young man was, he told me. And I saw this SWAT team, heavily armed to the teeth. They looked sufficient to take over a neighbouring small country or city like Benin,” he said.

He noted that the sight troubled him enough that he attempted to contact the National Security Adviser (NSA) to confirm whether such a deployment was officially sanctioned.

“I began looking for the NSA immediately. I said, track him down for me. They got him somewhere in Paris, but he was in a meeting with the president. I described the scene and asked: ‘Do you mean a child of the head of state goes around with an army for his protection?’ I couldn’t believe it.”
Soyinka, in a tone laced with sarcasm, suggested that the federal government need not deploy the military or air force to quell threats in neighbouring countries when such a formidable force already escorts the president’s son.
“Tinubu didn’t have to send the air force or military to deal with any insurrection. There is an easier way,” he said.

“Next time there’s an uprising, the president should call that young man and say, ‘Seyi, go and put down those stupid people there. You have troops under your command.’”

He stressed that while heads of state often have families, such privilege must never be abused or allowed to distort national security structures.
“Children should know their place. They are not potentates; they are not heads of state,” he said. “The security architecture of a nation suffers when we see such heavy devotion of security to one young individual.”