Soyinka made the remarks on Tuesday, December 9, during the 20th Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) Awards held in Lagos.
Soyinka: “I saw almost a battalion guarding the president’s son”
The renowned playwright recounted an incident that happened two months earlier at a hotel in the Ikoyi area of Lagos, where he said he encountered an unusually large number of heavily armed security operatives surrounding Seyi Tinubu.
According to Soyinka:
“I was coming out of a hotel and I saw what looked like a film set… nearly a whole battalion occupying the grounds of the hotel. A young man detached himself from the group and greeted me politely.
I asked my driver who he was, and he told me. I saw at least 15 heavily armed SWAT and other security officers, heavily armed to the teeth — enough to take over a small neighbouring country like Benin.”
Soyinka said he was “so astonished” that he attempted to contact the National Security Adviser (NSA) to express his concerns, adding that he later confirmed through personal inquiries that the heavy security convoy regularly accompanies Seyi Tinubu.
“This reflects our misplaced priorities”
The playwright argued that such deployments show a misallocation of national security resources, especially at a time when Nigeria is battling insecurity in several regions.
He joked that the president might as well send his son to handle national security crises, given the size of the force attached to him:
“Next time, the president should just call and say, ‘Seyi, go and quell the rebellion over there.’”
Soyinka insisted that this level of protection for the president’s son sends the wrong message about how Nigeria allocates its security assets.
A video of Soyinka speaking at the event has since surfaced online, sparking widespread conversation.
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