Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka has criticised what he described as the “extravagant” security detail attached to Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu, saying such deployment contradicts Nigeria’s security priorities.
Soyinka spoke at the 20th Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism Awards in Lagos on Tuesday, recounting an encounter in his Ikoyi hotel where he observed what he called “an excessively large security battalion” escorting a young man later identified as Seyi Tinubu.
According to Soyinka, the number of armed personnel “was enough to take over a small country,” prompting him to contact National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu for clarification.
“Children must understand their place. They are not elected leaders, and they must not inherit the architecture of state power simply by proximity,” Soyinka said.
He urged President Tinubu to redeploy security assets to areas battling kidnappings, insurgency and violent crime, rather than concentrate them around privileged individuals.
Soyinka joked that if a major insurgency erupted, “perhaps the President should ask Seyi to go and handle it,” but warned that behind the humour lies a serious governance problem.