NOBEL laureate Professor Wole Soyinka has criticised what he described as the “extravagant and unjustifiable” security escort attached to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s son, Seyi Tinubu, warning that Nigeria cannot afford to deploy scarce security resources based on privilege while the country grapples with widespread insecurity.
News Point Nigeria reports that Soyinka made the remarks on Monday at the 20th Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) Awards in Lagos, during a session that has since gone viral in a four-minute, 25-second video shared on X by the platform #Nigeriastories Tuesday night.
The literary icon narrated a recent encounter in Ikoyi, Lagos, which he said left him stunned. According to him, he witnessed “an excessively large security battalion assigned to a young individual close to the Presidency,” a convoy he joked was “sufficient to take over a small country.”
After discreet inquiries, Soyinka said he was shocked to discover the convoy belonged to Seyi Tinubu, prompting him to escalate his concern to the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
“I was astonished,” he said. “Children must understand their place. They are not elected leaders, and they must not inherit the architecture of state power simply because of proximity.”
The Nobel laureate stressed that such deployments are not only wasteful but reflect a dangerous distortion of national priorities at a time when kidnappings, rural attacks, banditry and insurgency continue to claim lives across the country.
He added that it was “troubling” that a battalion-sized escort would be allocated to one privileged individual while security agencies in many communities remain overwhelmed and under-resourced.
In a moment of humour that underscored a deeper point, Soyinka quipped that should a major insurgency erupt, perhaps the President should “send Seyi to go and handle it,” given the magnitude of the security personnel around him. “But behind the humour,” he added, “is a grave issue of fairness and national priorities.”
Soyinka also used the platform to warn against Nigeria’s increasing military entanglements in West Africa, specifically referencing Nigeria’s involvement in the recently halted coup attempt in the Republic of Benin.
He described the action as “another unnecessary military adventure next door,” arguing that Nigeria should prioritise strengthening democratic institutions rather than reflex deployments of force.
“What happens in Benin inevitably affects us. Instability anywhere in the region echoes across our own sense of security,” he said.
Turning to domestic governance, Soyinka criticised the ongoing demolitions in Lagos, stating he had personally received distressing photos and accounts from displaced families. While acknowledging that urban reform may sometimes be necessary, he insisted that such actions must uphold dignity and compassion.
“Let us not strip away the humanity of the people affected,” he urged, calling for evacuation measures that prioritise the vulnerable.
Soyinka also praised Nigerian journalists for their persistence despite hostility, intimidation and the pressures of today’s fast-moving information landscape. However, he warned that the rise of misinformation poses a dangerous threat.
“The next great conflict may well be triggered by the misuse of social platforms,” he said. He urged media practitioners to recommit to verification, editorial discipline and truth-telling, describing credible journalism as one of Nigeria’s last lines of defence against chaos.
As of Tuesday night, the video shared around 11:18 p.m. had attracted over 527,000 views, 466 reposts and 81 quotes, with Nigerians widely debating Soyinka’s claims, the state of national security, and the rising influence of members of the First Family.
While President Tinubu recently ordered the withdrawal of police officers attached to VIPs nationwide, directing their redeployment to core policing duties, there has been no official reaction from the Presidency regarding Soyinka’s claims.
This newspaper also reported that there is, as of Tuesday night, no publicly verified video confirming whether the individual Soyinka saw in Ikoyi was indeed Seyi Tinubu.