Wole Soyinka criticises heavy security escort for President Tinubu’s son in Lagos

Wole Soyinka criticises heavy security escort for President Tinubu’s son in Lagos

Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has criticised what he described as the excessive security deployment around the family of President Bola Tinubu, cautioning that such overreach undermines Nigeria’s broader national security priorities.

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

Soyinka said the number of armed operatives was so large that he initially thought a film was being shot. “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, 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.”

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According to him, no fewer than 15 heavily armed officers formed the security cordon around Seyi Tinubu, prompting him to question the justification for such a deployment. “They looked sufficient to take over a neighbouring small country or a city like Benin,” he remarked.

Disturbed by the scene, Soyinka said he attempted contacting the National Security Adviser to verify whether the arrangement was authorised. “I asked, ‘Do you mean a child of the head of state goes around with an army for his protection?’ I couldn’t believe it,” he said.

With his trademark sarcasm, Soyinka added that if the presidential family already moves with such a formidable force, there might be no need to deploy the military in response to future uprisings. “Next time there’s an insurrection, 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 not distort the nation’s security architecture. “Children should know their place. They are not potentates; they are not heads of state,” he said, warning that the heavy devotion of security resources to politically connected individuals comes at the expense of national needs.

Soyinka’s remarks add fuel to the ongoing public debate about state-funded security protection, especially at a time when Nigeria faces widespread insecurity and demands for more strategic deployment of personnel.

Wole Soyinka criticises heavy security escort for President Tinubu’s son in Lagos