Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka has publicly censured the excessive security detail surrounding Seyi Tinubu, the son of President Bola Tinubu, describing the spectacle as an alarming display of power intoxication. Speaking in Lagos on Tuesday, the literary icon recounted a personal encounter that left him stunned by the sheer scale of state resources deployed to protect a private citizen.
The incident occurred at a hotel in Ikoyi, where Soyinka had gone to present an honorary award to the renowned poet and activist Odia Ofeimun, who was being celebrated by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism. While at the venue, Soyinka observed a formidable security apparatus trailing the President’s son. He noted that he counted at least 15 security officials, describing them as being “heavily armed to the teeth.”
The sight was so jarring that the playwright felt compelled to take immediate action. He revealed that he reached out to the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to register his disapproval. In his characteristic satirical style, Soyinka mocked the necessity of such a force, referencing the recent attempted coup in the neighbouring Republic of Benin. He suggested that rather than deploying the Nigerian Air Force or soldiers to intervene in regional conflicts, the President should simply dispatch his son’s security detail, as they appeared sufficient to foil a coup on their own.
Soyinka’s criticism strikes at a sensitive nerve in Nigerian political discourse: the appropriation of state security apparatus by the families and associates of political officeholders. While the President requires high-level security, the extension of military-grade protection to adult children—who hold no constitutional office—is frequently viewed by critics as an abuse of privilege and a drain on the nation’s overstretched security forces.
This culture of elite movement has consequences that extend far beyond bad optics; it is a direct saboteur of national productivity. In economic hubs like Lagos, the frequent deployment of siren-blaring convoys exacerbates an already critical traffic crisis, forcing commercial vehicles and commuters off the road to pave the way for VIPs. The economic haemorrhage is quantifiable and severe. According to the Danne Institute for Research, traffic congestion costs Lagos State approximately ₦4 trillion annually in lost man-hours and economic activity.
The impact on the workforce is profound. Wale Adediran, the President of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM), has described this phenomenon as the “PIE Problem”—inflicting Physical, Intellectual, and Emotional trauma on the citizenry. When workers spend hours in gridlock caused or worsened by VIP movements, they arrive at work exhausted and leave frustrated, significantly diminishing their creative output and retention. In a country struggling with low productivity and economic headwinds, the elite’s insistence on aggressive, traffic-stopping convoys is not merely a nuisance; it is an active tax on the nation’s efficiency.
