Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s handling of regional security, domestic governance and the deployment of state protection for privileged individuals.
Also, he frowned at what he described as excessive security escort for and around the President’s son, Zeyi.
He spoke at the 20th Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) Awards held in Lagos on Monday.
His remarks were captured in a now-viral four-minute, 25-second video shared late Tuesday by #Nigeriastories on X.
Recounting a recent experience in Ikoyi, Lagos, Soyinka said he was taken aback by what he considered an extravagant display of state security.
He described seeing “an excessively large security battalion assigned to a young individual close to the Presidency,” an entourage he said was “sufficient to take over a small country.”
Soyinka later discovered the individual was Seyi Tinubu, the President’s son.
The disclosure, he noted, troubled him enough to reach out to National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu.
“I was astonished,” he said, adding that “children must understand their place.
“They are not elected leaders, and they must not inherit the architecture of state power simply by proximity.”
At the event, which also honoured veteran poet, Odia Ofeimun, and other contributors, Soyinka urged the President to reconsider the scale of security deployed around his son, arguing that the personnel were needed in more critical areas of national vulnerability.
He humorously remarked that the President did not need to deploy troops to Benin Republic, but that he should have sent his son Seyi to go and crush the coup. considering the size of his escort.
However, he said that but stressed that beyond the humour lies a serious matter of priority and fairness.
Soyinka warned that concentrating such a heavy deployment around one individual contradicts the realities of a nation grappling with kidnappings, rural violence, insurgency and widespread criminality. He insisted that security assignments must reflect national needs, not privilege.
Turning to the media, he commended journalists for their resilience but urged stronger editorial discipline in the face of rampant misinformation.
He cautioned that “the next great conflict may well be triggered by the misuse of social platforms,” calling for renewed commitment to truth and verification and describing credible journalism as a critical safeguard against national disorder.
As of 10:18 p.m. on Tuesday, the video had garnered more than 27,000 views, 466 reposts and 81 quote posts on X, according to PUNCH Online.
