Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka has criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for deploying the Nigerian Air Force to Benin Republic in response to the failed coup attempt against President Patrice Talon.

Speaking on Monday at the 20th Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) Awards in Lagos, the literary icon questioned the need for a military intervention and, in a satirical remark, suggested that the President could simply have sent his son, Seyi Tinubu, to “quell” the unrest.

Soyinka recounted observing Seyi Tinubu in Lagos surrounded by heavily armed security personnel, adding that the scale of protection around him appeared more than capable of handling significant threats.

He said:

“President Tinubu didn’t have to send the Air Force and Military to deal with the insurrection… there are easier ways of doing it. Let me tell you where Tinubu should have looked for forces to quell that insurrection — right here in Lagos or Abuja. There was no need to call the military or the Air Force.”

The Nobel Laureate then narrated an incident from a recent outing:

**“I was coming out of a hotel two months ago when I saw what looked like a film set. A young man stepped forward politely to greet me, and I noticed almost a battalion of heavily armed operatives covering the entire hotel grounds. When I asked who the young man was, they told me.

I saw at least 15 heavily armed personnel—more than enough, it seemed, to take over a small neighbouring country like Benin. I think next time the President should just say, ‘Seyi, go and quell the rebellion over there.’ I was so astonished I began looking for the NSA.”**

Soyinka’s remarks have stirred new conversations around governance, security protocol, and the optics of political families receiving extensive security details.