Nobel laureate Professor Wole Soyinka has expressed concern over what he described as an excessive display of state security attached to Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu.
Soyinka raised the alarm during the 20th Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism Awards held in Lagos on Monday.
A four-minute, 25-second clip from his remarks, now trending on social media platform X, was posted on Tuesday night by the handle #Nigeriastories.
In the video, Soyinka narrated a recent experience in Ikoyi, Lagos, which he said left him deeply troubled.
According to him, he encountered “an excessively large security battalion assigned to a young individual close to the Presidency,” a convoy he said was “enough to take over a small country.” He later confirmed that the individual was Seyi Tinubu.
Soyinka said he was disturbed enough by the incident to contact National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu for clarification.
“I was astonished,” he said. “Children must understand their place. They are not elected leaders and must not inherit the architecture of state power simply because of proximity.”
At the same event, held in honour of figures including poet Odia Ofeimun, Soyinka urged the President to reconsider the scale of security deployed around his son.
He joked that if a major insurgency were to erupt, perhaps the President should send Seyi to confront it, “given the size of the escort attached to him”—but stressed that the issue is fundamentally about national priorities and fairness.
Soyinka argued that concentrating such a large number of security personnel around one individual is unacceptable in a country battling kidnappings, rural attacks, insurgency, and widespread violent crime.
He insisted that security resources must be deployed based on national need, not privilege.
Turning to media issues, Soyinka commended journalists for their resilience but urged stronger editorial standards amid rising misinformation.
He warned that “the next great conflict may well be triggered by the misuse of social platforms,” and emphasised the importance of credible journalism in safeguarding national stability.
Professor Soyinka also addressed regional security, criticising Nigeria’s involvement in the recently halted coup attempt in the Republic of Benin, describing it as “another unnecessary military entanglement next door.”
He argued that Nigeria should prioritise strengthening democratic institutions rather than defaulting to military intervention, stressing that instability in neighbouring countries inevitably affects Nigeria.
On domestic governance, Soyinka faulted the ongoing wave of building demolitions in Lagos, saying he had received photos and testimonies of displaced families.
He insisted that even necessary urban renewal efforts must not “strip away the humanity of the people affected.”
As of Tuesday night, the Presidency had not issued any formal response regarding the identity of the individual referenced in the video, and there was no official confirmation that the security escort in question was indeed attached to Seyi Tinubu.
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