The United States has revoked the visa of Nigerian author and playwright Wole Soyinka. Earlier this year, the 91-year-old indicated that the U.S. consulate in Lagos had called him in for an interview to reassess his visa, adding that he would not attend.
Now, a letter from the consulate addressed to Soyinka and cited by AFP, shows that officials have now cancelled the Nigerian author’s visa, mentioning U.S. State Department regulations that allow “a consular officer, the Secretary, or a Department official to whom the Secretary has delegated this authority… to revoke a nonimmigrant visa at any time, in his or her discretion.”
Speaking at Kongi’s Harvest Gallery in Lagos on Tuesday, Soyinka read the letter aloud to journalists, stating that the local U.S. consulate had asked him to come over with his passport so that his visa could be nullified.
“We request you bring your visa to the US Consulate General Lagos for physical cancellation. To schedule an appointment, please email — et cetera, et cetera — in advance of the appointment,” Soyinka read, calling it a “rather curious love letter” to receive.
“I like people who have a sense of humour, and this is one of the most humorous sentences or requests I’ve had in all my life,” Soyinka said.
“Would any of you like to volunteer in my place? Take the passport for me? I’m a little bit busy and rushed.”
The Nigerian playwright, however, said that the visa revocation would deter him from attending literary and cultural events in the U.S.
Soyinka was issued a visa last year under U.S. President Joe Biden. But since Donald Trump took over in January, he has supervised a crackdown on immigration, taking visas and green cards from people he believes do not agree with his policies.
“I want to assure the consulate, the Americans here, that I am very content with the revocation of my visa,” Soyinka said on Tuesday.
Touching on his experiences writing about the Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin, Soyinka said, “Maybe it’s about time also to write a play about Donald Trump.”
Born in 1934, Soyinka, the brilliant Nigerian writer and political activist, was the first African to win the Nobel Prize for literature.
With over 50 pieces of work, his writings include novels, poems, memoirs and essays that capture his cultural traditions and use of rich language. The political activist has been very critical of happenings within Nigerian politics and Africa in general.
His stint in prison in 1967 after being labelled a spy during the civil strife between the Nigerian government and Biafra made his writing even louder.
In prison, despite the lack of writing materials, he was able to produce a significant body of poems and notes criticising the Nigerian government. Some of his works, including The Lion and The Jewel, The Trials of Brother Jero and The Strong Breed, were produced in Ghana and New York.
His writings and drama truly reflect the goings-on in the cultural and political life of Africans. His philosophical plays include The Road (1965) and Death and the King’s Horseman (performed 1976, published 1975).
The Nigerian playwright and poet continues to engage in political activism, highlighting the different situations people of Nigeria and other black people are going through in the world. He came to the limelight for tearing up his green card days after Trump was first elected in 2016.
During Tuesday’s remarks, Soyinka confirmed that he no longer had his green card. “Unfortunately, when I was looking at my green card, it fell between the fingers of a pair of scissors, and it got cut into a couple of pieces,” he said.
