Wole Soyinka
Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, feels scandalised by the massive security presence around Seyi Tinubu, the first son of President Bola Tinubu, such that he was so alarmed that he tried reaching the national security adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu to confirm whether the deployment was official and justifiable.
Prof. Soyinka, noted that the security men were so armed to the teeth that “they looked sufficient to take over a small country neighbouring city like Benin.”
Speaking at the 20th Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) Awards in Lagos on Tuesday, Soyinka said he recently witnessed a disturbing level of armed personnel attached to the president’s son while at a hotel in the Ikoyi area of the state.
Recounting his encounter with Seyi, Soyinka said, “I was coming out of my hotel, and I saw what looked like a film set, and I said, oh, they are shooting a film on the ground of the hotel.
“And a young man detached himself from the actors, came over and greeted me very politely. A very nice young man. And I said, ‘are you shooting somebody?’
“I said, ‘I’m just joking. Are you shooting a film?’ I looked around, and there was nearly a whole battalion occupying the grounds of the hotel in Ikoyi.
“So, when I got back in my car, and I asked the driver who that young man was, and he told me, and I saw this SWAT team, a mixture; they were heavily armed, at least some 15 or so heavily armed to the teeth security personnel looked sufficient to take over a small country neighbouring city like Benin.”
The renowned playwright and poet said: “I was so astonished that I started looking for the national security adviser. I said, ‘track him down for me’. I think they got him somewhere in Paris. But he was with the president; he was in a meeting.
“Then, I said I’ve just seen something I can’t believe; I don’t understand, and I described the scene to him. I said, ‘do you mean that a child of the head of state goes around with an army for his protection or whatever?’
“I couldn’t believe it. Later on, I did some investigative journalism, and I found that apparently this is how this young man goes around with his battalion, his heavily armed soldiers.”
The nonagenarian scholar stated humorously that President Tinubu did not need to mobilise the military or air force to confront threats in countries like the Benin Republic, as the security detail around his son could handle the situation.
“Tinubu didn’t have to send the air force and the military to deal with this particular insurrection, this threat to our own sense of security and equilibrium. No. There is an easier way to do it.
“Let me tell you where Tinubu should look for forces to quell that insurrection. Right here, in Lagos, or in Abuja, perhaps.
“And I think next time there’s an insurrection, I think the president should just call that young man and say, ‘Seyi, go and put down those stupid people there. You have troops under your command’”.
Underscoring the fact that presidents around the world have families, Soyinka insisted that the privilege must not be abused.
“This is not the first country whose head of state has a family. Children should know their place. They are not potentates; they are not heads of state.
“The security architecture of a nation suffers when we see such heavy devotion of security to one young individual” especially in a nation battling kidnappings, rural attacks, insurgency and criminal violence.
Soyinka therefore urged President Tinubu to review the level of security protection provided to individuals, insisting that the presence of military personnel should be concentrated in volatile regions where citizens genuinely need support and reassurance.
Soyinka cautioned that national security deployments must reflect the realities facing the larger population, rather than being concentrated around the privileged few.