The United States has revoked the visa of Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, days after he used the term “White Indiami” to describe former US President Donald Trump.
Prof Soyinka announced the sudden revocation at a news conference in Lagos on Tuesday, expressing his surprise and stating he had no criminal record that would justify the decision.
The 91-year-old playwright and activist said he received an official notification from the US Consulate General in Lagos, dated 23 October.
“I have no visa; I am banned, obviously, from the United States,” he told journalists at the Kongiโs Harvest Gallery. “I’m still looking into my past historyโฆ I don’t have any past criminal record.”
The specific reason for the revocation was not given in the consulate’s letter, which simply cited the authority of US Department of State regulations. Prof Soyinka said he was left to wonder if he had “ever misbehaved toward the United States of America.”
The development comes shortly after Prof Soyinka’s critical comments about US politics. In a recent interview, he used the phrase “White Indiami” to characterise Mr Trump, a remark that has garnered significant attention.
This is not the first recent visa issue for the laureate. In September, he publicly declined an invitation from the US Consulate for a visa re-interview, calling the initial letter so unusual he believed it might be an advance-fee fraud scam.
Prof Soyinka holds a B1/B2 visa, a standard non-immigrant category for business and tourism. He is known for his frequent international speaking engagements and academic work.
The US Consulate General in Lagos has not yet issued a public statement regarding the revocation.
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