Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has voiced strong concerns over the extensive security detail surrounding the family of President Bola Tinubu, suggesting it reflects poorly on Nigeria’s security priorities.
Speaking at the 20th Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism Awards in Lagos on Tuesday, Soyinka recounted witnessing an overwhelming armed presence attached to the president’s son at a hotel in Ikoyi.
“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 grounds of the hotel,” Soyinka said. “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.”
He described seeing heavily armed personnel, enough, in his words, “to take over a small country neighbouring city like Benin.”
“I go back in my car and I asked the young driver who that young man was and he told me. And I saw this SWAT team, a mixture. They were at least heavily armed, at least some 15 or so heavily armed to the teeth, security personnel. Looked sufficient to take over a small country, neighboring city like Benin.”
He stated that the president did not need to mobilise the military or air force to handle national security threats abroad, joking that the security detail around his son could easily crush an insurrection.
“And I think the next time the President should just call and say, ‘Seyi go and quell the rebellion over there.’ Later on, I did some investigative journalism and I inquire and I found that apparently this is how this young man goes around with his battalion, his heavily armed soldiers.
“So next time there’s an insurrection, I think the President should just call that young man and say, ‘go and put down those stupid people there. You have enough troops under your command, so don’t bother me with all these security issues any longer.’”
Soyinka said he was compelled to contact the national security adviser to verify whether the deployment was justified.
He further warned that such practices undermine the country’s security architecture. “Children should know their place. They are not potentates; they are not heads of state,” he said.
The Nobel laureate emphasised that while heads of state naturally have families, the privilege of security must not be abused, stressing that Nigeria’s focus should remain on national security rather than individual protection for family members.
“Let’s not overdo things,” he concluded.
Melissa Enoch
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