THE REPUBLIC OF SIRENS: NIGERIA’S DESCENT INTO PRIVILEGED TYRANNY BY LANRE OGUNDIPE
GREATRIBUNETVNEWS–Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka has sparked outrage over the excessive security escort given to Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu, highlighting a growing constitutional crisis in Nigeria
KEY ISSUES:
– Abuse of Power : Private individuals, including Seyi Tinubu, are using state security resources like “alternate governments” without constitutional authority
– Constitutional Violations : Supreme Court rulings (A.G. Federation v. Atiku, 2007; Fawehinmi v. IGP, 2002) emphasize public office isn’t for personal/family benefit, yet practices continue
– Police Act Abuse : Sections 24-27 restrict officer deployment to verified threats, public officials, court-approved cases – but escorts are used like “fashion accessories” for elites
– Misallocation of Resources :
– ~30,000 police officers attached to VIPs (equivalent to two states’ police force)
– Streets, highways, cities lack protection as officers escort privileged individuals
– Class Divide : Two-tier nation – those commanding armed escorts vs. citizens praying not to be kidnapped
– Impact on Governance : Erosion of rule of law, impunity as norm, risk of democracy collapse
– Calls for Reform : Soyinka urges restraint, equitable use of security resources; questions if presidency is becoming “traditional monarchy”
RELEVANT QUOTES:
– “Power abandons responsibility, it mutates into tyranny.” – Justice Chukwudifu Oputa
– “Children should know their place. They are not potentates.” – Wole Soyinka
– “Let’s not overdo things.” – Wole Soyinka
CONTEXT:
– Follows President Tinubu’s directive to withdraw police from unauthorised VIP escorts (Nov 2025) but implementation questioned
– Contrasts with regional security efforts (e.g., troops sent to Benin Republic for coup attempt)
– Triggers debate on social media, with mixed reactions on Seyi Tinubu’s security needs
BY LANRE OGUNDIPE
A viral video concerning the absurd behaviour of Mr. President’s son, Seyi Tinubu, recently provided the opportunity to scrutinize the systemic abuse of power. This abuse is first executed by those entrusted with authority and then further exploited by those merely privileged to be close to power. A cursory observation reveals that the Nigerian state has reached a shameful point. On the highways, in the streets, at airports, at nightclubs, at school runs, and at private ceremonies—Nigerians are now compelled to give way to siren-armed convoys carrying individuals with no public office, no constitutional responsibility, but an infinite appetite for state power.
Our democracy is bleeding, not only from insecurity, hunger, and economic trauma, but from a new and growing tyranny: the tyranny of privilege wrapped in uniformed escorts. This is not merely irritating. This is a constitutional crisis.
A REPUBLIC RULED BY NOISE AND GUNPOINT
There are few things more insulting than watching citizens jump into gutters because a convoy – often carrying no government official – is racing through like a military invasion. This is the daily humiliation of Nigerians:
Sirens that bully. Escorts that threaten.
Convoys that colonise public roads. Guns brandished like national identity cards.
And the question remains: What part of the Constitution authorises private individuals to behave like alternate governments? None. Absolutely none.
THE SUPREME COURT HAS ALREADY WARNED US — POWER IS NOT FAMILY PROPERTY
The apex court has repeatedly delivered a doctrine the political class refuses to follow:
A.G. Federation v. Atiku (2007): “Public office is a trust… not exercisable for personal or familial benefit.”
Fawehinmi v. IGP (2002): Even the President’s power has legal limits; no arm of government or its agents may act outside statutory authority.
Hon. Dino Melaye v. Speaker, Kogi State Assembly (2016): The Supreme Court reaffirmed that “no Nigerian is above the law, and no privilege is superior to constitutional order.”
Military Governor of Lagos State v. Ojukwu (1986): The legendary “Government of Law, not of Men” principle: Even the government must obey the law; its power is not personal.
If government itself must obey the law, how much more those who do not hold public office? Yet here we are—Nigeria governed by convoys with no legal status, but with roaring sirens and federal firepower.
THE POLICE ACT IS BEING ABUSED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT
The Police Act 2020, Sections 24–27, explicitly restrict the deployment of officers for private protection to:
Verified threat assessments
Public office holders
Court-approved situations
But today, escorts are deployed like fashion accessories. State security has become a status symbol, not a national necessity.
The Nigeria Police Force is being transformed into:
A private concierge service.
A mobile intimidation unit.
A ceremonial escort squad for elites with influence.
…while ordinary Nigerians are abducted, robbed, killed, and abandoned.
THE COST OF THIS MADNESS
1. 30,000 Police Officers Missing from Public Security. Former IGPs—Okiro, Arase, Idris, Adamu—all confessed: over 30,000 officers are permanently attached to VIPs.
This is equivalent to the entire police strength of two states. The implication thereof, is:
Streets without Law.
Highways without Patrol.
Cities without Protection.
Because the police that should protect Nigerians are sitting inside AC vehicles escorting privilege.
The resultant effect of this abuse is a nation of two classes – those who can command armed escorts and those who can only pray not to be kidnapped.
Impunity as a national norm. The moment the people realize that the powerful cannot obey the law, the people stop respecting the state. This is how democracies collapse.
Nigeria now looks like a country run for the comfort of a few. Convoys have become the symbol of a political order that sees Nigerians not as citizens but as obstacles.
When sirens force ambulances off the road, we have a problem. When escorts beat drivers for not clearing quickly, we have a crisis. When convoys for non-public office holders fly through red lights with guns drawn, we have a national disgrace.
This is not democracy. This is aristocracy with sirens.
THE REFORMS NIGERIA MUST IMPOSE — NOT REQUEST
Immediate Presidential Order: No Convoy Beyond Five Vehicles. No exceptions. No emotional attachments. No unofficial beneficiaries.
Publish a Complete “Security Attachment Register” Let Nigerians see who receives police protection and on what basis.
Supreme Court-Enforced Oversight: The AGF must approach the Supreme Court for a declaration restricting VIP escorts to constitutional officeholders.
Arrest and Prosecute Escort Misconduct: Assaulting citizens should become a career-ending offence.
Recall and Reassign Thousands of Police Officers: Return them to patrols, not parades.
Collapse All Illegal Convoys: Any convoy without statutory backing should be disbanded and impounded.
Reform must begin at the Villa. Everything else is political theatre.
Final Word
THE SIREN IS NOW A SYMBOL OF A GOVERNMENT THAT FEARS ITS PEOPLE
Nigeria is at a crossroads. A government cannot govern by intimidation. A republic cannot function when privilege moves with a mobile army. A democracy cannot survive when the people learn that the law only applies upward, never downward.
If sirens continue to rule Nigeria, then Nigeria has ceased to be a republic. And the Supreme Court has already told us again and again that this nation must be governed by law, not by men, not by names, not by families, and certainly not by convoys.
It is time to dismantle this noisy, lawless empire of privilege.
Before it dismantles the country.
*Lanre Ogundipe*
Public Affairs Analyst;
Former President Nigeria and African Union of Journalists
December, 12, 2025.
About the Author
