Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has slammed the Presidency over the size of the security team attached to the son of President Bola Tinubu, Seyi Tinubu, describing it as excessive and troubling for a country struggling with overstretched security resources.
Prof. Soyinka made the remarks on Tuesday, December 9, while presenting an honorary award to poet Odia Ofeimun at an event hosted by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.
The Nobel laureate recounted how he walked into a Lagos hotel and saw what he initially believed was a film shoot, until one of the men stepped forward to greet him.
He added that it was only after the encounter that his driver identified the man who greeted him as Seyi Tinubu and that the heavily armed group, numbering about 15 men, was his security escort.
Prof. Soyinka disclosed that he was disturbed by the scene and immediately contacted the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to register his concern.
“I was so astonished that I started looking for the national security adviser. I said track him down for me.
“I think they got him somewhere in Paris. But he was with the president; he was in a meeting.
“Then, I said I’ve just seen something I can’t believe; I don’t understand, and I described the scene to him. I said, do you mean that a child of the head of state goes around with an army for his protection or whatever?” he narrated.
He added that further inquiries suggested the level of security he witnessed had become routine for the president’s son.
Prof. Soyinka warned that such deployments divert critical security personnel from areas where they are urgently needed.
“Later on, I did some investigative journalism. And I enquired, and I found that apparently, this is how this young man goes around with his battalion, his heavily armed soldiers.
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“Children should know their place. They are not potentates,” he stressed, arguing further that Nigeria’s security system could be weakened if large teams were continually attached to individuals who hold no public office.
Sarcastically, he suggested that if another attempted coup or insurrection occurred in any part of West Africa, the president could simply “send his son and the troops that follow him around to put it down.”
His criticism is coming a few weeks after Tinubu ordered the withdrawal of police officers attached to Very Important Persons (VIPs).
