"No one dares touch Seyi Tinubu’s personal security team, not even the IG of Police" – Rufai Oseni
Popular Arise TV anchor Rufai Oseni has thrown down the gauntlet in a manner that only he can: blunt, fearless, and straight to the point.
During Wednesday’s edition of The Morning Show (December 10, 2025), Oseni reacted to Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka’s widely circulated criticism of the heavy security entourage that accompanies Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu.
Soyinka had narrated how he was stunned to see what he called a “small battalion” of armed policemen, soldiers, and DSS operatives escorting a young man at a Lagos hotel. When he discovered it was the president’s son, the literary icon described the display as “obscene,” especially at a time when ordinary Nigerians live in constant fear of kidnappers and bandits. He urged the authorities to “stop overdoing things.”
President Tinubu himself had, only weeks earlier, ordered the immediate withdrawal of police officers attached to VIPs across the country so they could be redeployed to fight rising insecurity. Yet, as Soyinka’s encounter showed, some VIPs appear to be more important than others.
That contradiction was all Rufai Oseni needed.
Speaking on live television, he said the presidential directive would be obeyed everywhere except when it comes to Seyi Tinubu.
His exact words, delivered partly in the street-sharp Pidgin that resonates with millions of viewers, have since gone viral: “Dem no born anybody in Nigeria to remove police officers guiding Seyi Tinubu not even the IG of Police himself. Dem no born am well!”
In plain English: no one, not even the Inspector-General of Police, has the courage or authority to withdraw Seyi Tinubu’s security detail.
Oseni argued that while politicians, businessmen, and traditional rulers may eventually lose their police escorts, the president’s son remains untouchable a living symbol of how power truly works in Nigeria.
The studio exchange with co-anchor Dr. Reuben Abati underlined the point: Abati: “Even the IG can’t do it?”
Oseni: “My brother, dem no born am well.”
Within hours, the clip spread across WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, sparking heated debates about privilege, nepotism, and the unequal distribution of security in a country where farmers are killed daily and schoolchildren are still being abducted.
As of now, neither the Presidency, the Nigeria Police Force, nor Seyi Tinubu has responded to the growing controversy.
But one thing is clear: in the court of public opinion, Rufai Oseni has spoken for millions who feel that, in today’s Nigeria, some citizens are simply more equal and far better protected than others.
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