‘I couldn’t believe it’: Soyinka criticises Seyi Tinubu’s security escort

Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka has faulted what he described as the excessive security convoy accompanying Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu, calling it an unnecessary and troubling display of state resources.

Soyinka, while speaking in a viral video, recounted his surprise after encountering what he said appeared to be a “small battalion” of heavily armed operatives guarding Seyi during a visit to a hotel in the Ikoyi area of Lagos.

According to him, the deployment was so overwhelming that he initially assumed a movie scene was being filmed., adding that his confusion cleared only after Seyi stepped forward to greet him politely.

Soyinka said he later learned that the entire security formation was attached solely to the president’s son, a revelation he described as alarming.

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“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 heavy armed soldiers,” Soyinka said, adding that the sight left him disturbed enough to attempt contacting the National Security Adviser for clarification.

The Nobel Laureate warned that assigning such a heavy security detail to one individual, particularly a president’s son, sends the wrong message and undermines the nation’s security priorities.

“Children should know their place. They are not heads of state,” Soyinka said, stressing that national security architecture should not be distorted for personal convenience.

He added jokingly that with the size of Seyi’s escort, the president might as well deploy him to quell any future unrest.

The Star