Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reconsider the heavy security deployment attached to his son, Seyi Tinubu, saying the personnel are needed in parts of the country facing serious insecurity.
Soyinka made the appeal while speaking at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism event held at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos, where veteran poet Odia Ofeimun received a special recognition award.
Recounting a recent encounter at a hotel in Ikoyi, Soyinka said he was surprised to see a young man surrounded by a large number of armed security operatives. He said he initially assumed a film scene was being shot because of the heavy presence of uniformed officers.
He explained that the young man later approached to greet him, and he asked what movie production was ongoing. When told there was none, Soyinka said he became curious and asked his driver for clarification. It was at that point he learnt the individual was Seyi Tinubu.
The Nobel Laureate said the sight troubled him enough to call the National Security Adviser to describe what he had witnessed.
“I said I had just seen something I could not understand. I asked if it was true that the child of a head of state moves around with such a heavy deployment of soldiers,” Soyinka told the audience.
He added that after making further inquiries, he discovered that the security entourage was reportedly a regular feature of Seyi’s movement.
Soyinka said children of leaders must understand their place, adding that they are not elected officials and should not inherit the privileges or power structures of the state simply because of their proximity to power.
Speaking jokingly, he said if the country faced an insurgency, perhaps the President should ask Seyi to handle it, given the number of officers assigned to him. He stressed, however, that beneath the humour lies a serious concern about the nation’s priorities.
He noted that deploying such a large number of security personnel to one individual does not reflect well on a country battling kidnappings, insurgency, banditry and widespread violence.
Soyinka urged President Tinubu to review the level of protection provided to individuals, saying security resources should be concentrated in troubled regions where citizens urgently need protection and reassurance.
He said national security deployment must reflect the realities facing the larger population, not the privileges of a few.
