Femi Ashekun/
Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, has strongly criticised what he described as a “battalion-size” security escort around Seyi Tinubu, the son of President Bola Tinubu, saying it represents a gross misallocation of state resources at a time of worsening insecurity and economic strain across Nigeria.
Soyinka made the remarks on Tuesday in Lagos at the 20th Wole Soyinka Awards for Investigative Reporting.
He recounted stepping out of a hotel in Ikoyi and being confronted by a large formation of heavily armed personnel, a scene he initially mistook for a film shoot.
He said he later discovered that the security operatives were attached to Seyi Tinubu, describing the scale of the deployment as excessive for a private citizen.
Disturbed by the development, Soyinka said he contacted the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to raise concerns about what he called an unhealthy concentration of national security assets around the president’s son.
He warned that such practices undermine fairness, distort security priorities and deepen public resentment at a time when many communities remain exposed to banditry, kidnapping and violent crime.
In a cutting remark, Soyinka referenced the recent failed coup attempt in the Benin Republic, saying the president could have spared the deployment of Nigerian troops and military aircraft if the same “troops” attached to his son had been sent instead.
He cautioned against the elevation of the president’s family to untouchable status, insisting that restraint must guide the use of state power.
“Let’s not overdo things. They are not potentates,” Soyinka said, stressing that public security resources belong to the entire nation and not to a privileged few.
His comments come against the backdrop of a recent directive by President Tinubu ordering the withdrawal of police officers from unauthorised VIP escort duties nationwide, a policy aimed at strengthening general policing and improving public safety.
The visible security around the president’s son has, however, renewed questions about the implementation of that directive and the persistence of informal privilege.
The debate is further sharpened by Nigeria’s recent legislative approval to deploy troops to the Benin Republic following the foiled coup attempt there, underscoring the contrast between Nigeria’s regional security engagements and the heavy domestic protection afforded to politically exposed individuals.
Soyinka’s intervention has triggered wide public reaction, with many Nigerians on social media echoing his concern that national security resources must be deployed transparently, equitably and strictly in the public interest.
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