Wole Soyinka Questions Heavy Security For Seyi Tinubu

Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka has criticised what he described as an excessive and heavily armed security detail surrounding Seyi Tinubu, son of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, prompting renewed scrutiny of Nigeria’s security-resource allocation and public-interest priorities.

The remarks were made during the 20th edition of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism Awards in Lagos on Tuesday.

Soyinka recounted observing what he initially thought was a film set at a hotel in Ikoyi, Lagos, only to realise the scene involved heavily armed security officers guarding Seyi Tinubu.

He said he counted “at least 15 or so heavily armed to the teeth security officials” attached to the entourage. “I saw what looked like a film set. 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 said, describing his astonishment at the scale of the deployment.

Beyond expressing personal alarm, Soyinka questioned the wisdom of such deployment in a country where many regions are besieged by insecurity, kidnappings, and banditry.

He argued that the resources devoted to personal protection for one individual might better serve public security efforts in troubled areas.

He told the gathering that perhaps for future security crises “the President should consider asking that his son and that security detail be deployed” instead of engaging military assets abroad.

Soyinka also said he attempted to contact the NSA to verify whether the deployment was officially authorised, reflecting concerns about transparency and accountability in such assignments.