Nobel laureate Professor Wole Soyinka has declared that the recent revocation of his United States visa came as no surprise, stating he publicly predicted such actions the moment Donald Trump assumed the American presidency.
The globally celebrated playwright made the statement during an interview with BBC News Pidgin, referencing the former US president’s recent designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern.”
Soyinka revealed that his B1/B2 visa was officially cancelled by the US Embassy in a letter dated October 23, 2025, which requested he return his passport for “physical cancellation.” The academic described the demand as “a joke.”
The author’s remarks arrive amidst renewed diplomatic friction between Nigeria and the US, sparked by Trump’s online posts alleging genocide against Christians in Nigeria and warning that America would “come in gun-ablazing” if the killings were not halted.
Reflecting on Trump’s initial rise to power, Soyinka asserted that he had foreseen a stringent visa policy. “The first thing he will do is cancel even the green cards,” Soyinka quoted his past self.
He characterised the former president as “a petty-minded dictator,” adding, “you see how he deals with his objects of hate. We saw that dark side of the American side. There were more killings, extrajudicial killings by the police of black people, of minorities, during that build-up, during the campaign, and on account of hate rhetoric, the hate rhetoric of this individual.”
“I saw it and I said, listen very carefully — and you can go and check this – I said, ‘When that man comes to power, the first thing he will do is cancel even the green cards’.”
Professor Soyinka’s history of dissent against Trump is well documented. Following the 2016 election, the literary icon vowed to destroy his permanent US residency card, a promise he fulfilled shortly after Trump’s inauguration.
“I have already done it, I have disengaged (from the United States). I have done what I said I would do,” the then 82-year-old professor stated at a conference in Johannesburg.
He explained his decision at the time, saying, “I had a horror of what is to come with Trump… I threw away the (green) card, and I have relocated, and I’m back to where I have always been.”
The recent visa development for Soyinka aligns with a broader shift in US immigration policy. In July, the US Department of State enacted changes affecting Nigerian citizens, restricting most non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas to a single entry with a three-month validity period.
According to the consulate’s letter to Professor Soyinka, should he wish to travel to the United States in the future, he must “apply again to re-establish your qualifications for a new non-immigrant visa.”
