Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has raised concerns over what he described as the unusually large security escort attached to Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu.
In a video circulating on X, Soyinka narrated how he was shocked to meet what looked like a small battalion of heavily armed security operatives guarding Seyi during a visit to a hotel in Ikoyi, Lagos.
According to him, he initially thought a movie was being filmed because the number of armed men looked unreal. Soyinka said he only realised the gathering wasn’t a film scene when a young man, later identified as Seyi Tinubu, briefly detached himself from the group and politely greeted him.
“A young man came over and greeted me, very polite, very nice. That was when I asked if they were shooting a film, and he said no.” Soyinka explained that when he asked who that young man was, he discovered that the entire security formation was for Seyi Tinubu.
“I was told this is how the young man moves around. I couldn’t believe that a child of the head of state goes around with an army for his protection.” The Nobel Laureate said the scene left him so disturbed that he attempted to reach the National Security Adviser.
“I said, track him down for me. I described the scene and asked if this is normal,” he added. Soyinka argued that such heavy deployment of national security resources to one individual, especially the president’s child, sends the wrong signal.
“Children should know their place. They are not heads of state. The security architecture of a nation suffers when we see such devotion of troops to one young individual.”
He joked that with the size of Seyi’s escort; the president might as well send him to handle any future unrest. “The next time there is an insurrection, the president should just call that young man. He has enough troops under his command,” Soyinka said.
