Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has criticized the “heavy security” attached to President Bola Tinubu’s son, Seyi, saying the scale of his escort is unjustifiable.
The Nobel laureate said this at the 20th Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism Awards in Lagos on Tuesday.
“I was so astonished that I started looking for the national security adviser. I said track him down for me… I’ve just seen something I can’t believe. Do you mean that a child of the head of state goes around with an army for his protection?” Soyinka said at the 20th Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism Awards in Lagos on Tuesday.
“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,” he said.
“I was astonished,” he added, stressing that “children must understand their place. They are not elected leaders, and they must not inherit the architecture of state power simply by proximity.”
He urged President Tinubu to reconsider the scale of security attached to Seyi, noting that such resources are urgently needed elsewhere, especially in a country battling widespread violence.
“If a major insurgency were to break out, perhaps the president should ask Seyi to go and handle it, given the size of his escort; but beyond the humour lies a serious matter of priority and fairness,” Soyinka warned.
