The United States government has withdrawn the non-immigrant visa issued to Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, requesting that he reapply for entry clearance.
Gatekeepers News reports that in a letter dated October 23 and signed by the U.S. Consulate-General in Lagos, Soyinka was asked to submit his passport for physical cancellation of the visa.
Speaking during a media briefing in Lagos on Tuesday, the playwright read portions of the official communication.
The letter reads, “This letter serves as official notification by the United States Consulate General in Lagos that the nonimmigrant visa listed below has been revoked pursuant to the authority contained in U.S. Department of State regulations 22 CFR 41.122 and is no longer valid for application for entry into the United States.”
According to the U.S. authorities, the decision followed additional information that emerged after the visa was granted. The letter also instructed that the document be presented at the consulate for cancellation.
Soyinka told reporters he was unsure of the specific reason behind the revocation. He explained that he had applied for the visa following a notice from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service regarding an audit of his tax filings.
Soyinka said the trip was intended to clarify those tax matters and prevent being portrayed internationally as a tax dodger.
The laureate also recalled renouncing his U.S. green card after Donald Trump assumed the presidency, wondering if his past remarks about the former president—whom he once described as “Idi Amin in white face”—had influenced the decision.
He said, “It is necessary for me to give this press conference so that people in the United States who are expecting me for their event not to waste their time. I have no desire.”
“I have written a lot of plays about Idi Amin. Maybe it is about time I also write about Donald Trump. Literary compliment. Maybe he would reconsider and restore my visa.”
“I want to reassure the U.S. Consulate that I’m very content with the revocation of my visa. Individual citizens are free to interact with me.”
