2 hours ago
Latest Update
Latest Updates
Featured Posts
Get in Touch
Location:
123 Innovation Street
Tech District, CA 94105
123 Innovation Street
Tech District, CA 94105
Email:
[email protected]
[email protected]
Phone:
+1 (234) 567-890
+1 (234) 567-890
Wole Soyinka, Longtime Trump Critic, Reports US Visa Revocation
The American administration has cancelled the visa for Wole Soyinka, the renowned Nigerian Nobel prize-winning playwright who has been vocal about Trump since his first presidency, Soyinka stated on Tuesday.
“I want to tell the consulate … that I’m very content with the revocation of my visa,” Soyinka, who received the 1986 Nobel prize for literature, told a press briefing.
Soyinka once had permanent residency in the United States, though he discarded his green card after Donald Trump’s first election in 2016.
Soyinka surmised that his recent comments comparing Trump to the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin might have provoked a reaction and led to the US consulate’s decision.
Soyinka said earlier this year that the US consulate in Lagos had called him in for an interview to review his visa, which he said he would not attend.
According to a document from the consulate directed at Soyinka, officials have cancelled his visa, referencing American government regulations that permit “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”.
“This is a rather curious love letter from an embassy,”
he jokingly commented while presenting the letter aloud to journalists in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub. He also informed any organizations hoping to invite him to the United States “not to waste their time”.
“I have no visa. I am banned,” Soyinka affirmed.
The US embassy in Abuja, the capital, indicated it could not comment on individual cases, pointing to confidentiality rules.
The current US administration has made visa revocations a defining feature of its wider crackdown on immigration, notably targeting university students who were expressive about Palestinian rights.
Soyinka revealed he had recently compared Trump to Uganda’s Amin, something he remarked Trump “should be proud of”.
“Idi Amin was a man of global standing, a statesman, so when I called Donald Trump Idi Amin, I thought I was giving him praise,”
Soyinka said. “He’s been behaving like a dictator.”
The 91-year-old playwright behind Death and the King’s Horseman has lectured at and been awarded honours top US universities including Harvard and Cornell.
His newest novel, Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth, a critique about corruption in Nigeria, was published in 2021. Soyinka referred to the book as his “gift to Nigeria”.
In February, the Crucible theatre in Sheffield staged Death and the King’s Horseman.
Soyinka left the door open to considering an invitation to the United States should circumstances change, but added: “I wouldn’t take the initiative myself because there’s nothing I’m looking for there. Nothing.”
He went on to denounce the increased arrests of undocumented immigrants in the country.
“This is not about me,” Soyinka said. “When we see people being arrested publicly – people being hauled up and they disappear for a month … old women, children being separated. So that’s really what worries me.”
The ongoing immigration crackdown has seen military personnel deployed to US cities and citizens short-term arrested as part of targeted actions, as well as the restricting of legal means of entry.
Margaret Houston
A dedicated writer and theologian passionate about sharing faith-based insights and fostering community connections.
December 2025 Blog Roll
November 2025 Blog Roll
October 2025 Blog Roll
September 2025 Blog Roll
August 2025 Blog Roll
July 2025 Blog Roll
June 2025 Blog Roll
Popular Posts
Sponsored News
News
Explore 29 New Game Cards from Magic's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Set (Featuring a Commander-Style Precon Deck!)
By Margaret Houston
•
04 Dec 2025
News
Coast-to-Coast Protests Anticipated as Millions Gather for Anti-Monarchy Actions
By Margaret Houston
•
03 Dec 2025
News
Important Lessons from the US Government Shutdown Resolution
By Margaret Houston
•
03 Dec 2025
News
US Officers Launch Immigration Operation in Charlotte
By Margaret Houston
•
03 Dec 2025
News
Attorney General Discloses Inquiry into President's Rivals and Epstein Links
By Margaret Houston
•
03 Dec 2025
News
Novak Djokovic Issues Warning to Jannik Sinner: Suspension Will Follow Him Like a "Cloud"
By Margaret Houston
•
03 Dec 2025