Wole Soyinka, the first African author to receive the 1986 Nobel Prize for Literature, was granted a new visa by the United States.
Soyinka read aloud from a notice the local US consulate gave him on Tuesday at Kongi’s Harvest Gallery in Lagos, asking him to bring his passport so that his visa could be voided.
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Bring your visa to the US Consulate General in Lagos for physical cancellation. Please email me to schedule an appointment in advance of the appointment, Soyinka said, skimming the letter.
The  author joked with the audience that he had no time to fulfill the request as he closed his laptop.
This is one of the most humorous sentences or requests I’ve ever received, according to Soyinka, who likes people who have a sense of humor.
“Would any of you like to volunteer to replace me?” Bring it with me, please? I feel rushed and rushed.
Under US President Joe Biden, a visa for Soyinka was issued last year. However, Donald Trump was appointed as president in the interim.
Trump has enacted a crackdown on immigration since beginning his second term in January, and his administration has stopped providing visas and green cards to people who it believes are out of step with the Republican president’s policies.
Even though he claimed the visa revocation would prevent him from attending literary and cultural events at Tuesday’s event, Soyinka expressed a perplexed tone.
I want to reassure the consulate and the Americans who are present that I’m pleased that my visa was revoked, Soyinka said.
He also made fun of Idi Amin, the military leader of Uganda, in his previous articles. He said, “Maybe it’s about time to write a play about Donald Trump.”
In the crosshairs of Nobel Prize winners
With a career spanning all genres, Soyinka has a formidable reputation in African literature, from journalism to poetry to translation.
He is the author of numerous short stories, including Season of Anomy and Chronicles from the Happiest People on Earth, as well as a number of novels.
The 91-year-old author has also fought against censorship. He wrote, “Those who wish to suppress the truth will terrorize all forms of writing.”
For PEN America, a free speech nonprofit, he has given lectures on the subject in New York City. He recently made a second appearance in the US in 2021, and he received the Literary Service Award from the organization to honor Henry Louis Gates Jr., a scholar and former coworker.
Despite the US president’s own aspirations to win the Nobel Prize, Soyinka is not the first Nobel winner to have his US visa removed following Trump’s re-election.
Oscar Arias, a former president of Costa Rica and the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize winner, had his visa revoked as well in April.
Arias’ efforts to put an end to armed conflict in Central American nations like Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala were previously honored by the Nobel Committee.
Arias claimed in a letter to the US government that his visa had been canceled because of his ties to China, but Arias claimed Arias’s claims were unsupported.
According to Arias, “During my second administration, from 2006 to 2010, I established diplomatic relations with China, and that’s because it has the second-largest economy in the world.”
Arias continued, adding that he could not rule out the possibility that his visa had been removed for other reasons.
Arias told NPR, “I have to imagine that my criticism of President Trump may have been a factor.” The president’s personality is “unfreakable and disagreeable,” the statement goes.
In addition, Soyinka has a reputation for being open-minded about both domestic politics in his native Nigeria and international affairs.
He confirmed to The Atlantic in 2017 that he had destroyed his permanent residence permit and US green card in protest of Trump’s first election in 2016.
If I absolutely have to travel to the United States, he told the magazine, “I prefer to queue up for a regular visa with others,” as long as Trump is in charge.
He claimed that the purpose was to demonstrate that he was no longer a member of society and not even a resident.
Soyinka emphasized that he still has close friends in the US in his remarks on Tuesday.
His writing had long been subject to persecution in Nigeria, but he was well known for using toilet paper for a while while he was confined to a wheelchair in the 1990s.
He began teaching at prestigious universities like Harvard, Yale, and Emory while he was a student in North America.
targeting “hostile attitudes”
However, the Trump administration has pledged to revoke visas for people it believe pose a threat to its national security and interests.
In an effort to prevent “hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles,” Trump issued a proclamation in June calling on his government to tighten immigration laws.
What constitutes a “hostile attitude” toward American culture is not well known. Such broad language may be used as a slam d’envoi for dissent, according to human rights advocates.
After all, free speech is protected by the US Constitution’s First Amendment, which shields individual freedom of expression from restrictions.
The nonprofit Economists for Peace and Security, which is affiliated with the UN, was one of those who expressed outrage after Arias’s visa was removed.
The nonprofit wrote in its statement that “this action, taken without explanation, raises serious concerns about the treatment of a revered elder statesman who has dedicated his life to peace, democracy, and diplomacy.”
Disagreements in foreign policy or political outlook should not lead to punitive measures against those who have made significant contributions to world peace and stability.
International students, social media commentators, and acting government officials have also experienced criticism for their opinions and their unfavorable international ties.
President of Panama Jose Raul Mulino expressed concern earlier this month that some of his country’s leaders had had their visas revoked because of their diplomatic ties to China.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro witnessed his visa yanked shortly after giving a critical speech to the UN and taking part in a protest against Israel’s occupation of Gaza in September while on a trip to New York City.
Petro’s actions were later described as “reckless and incendiary” by the US Department of State.
Separately, the State Department announced on October 14 that six foreign nationals would be denied entry to the country because of their criticism of Trump’s close ally Charlie Kirk, a close friend and assassin.
At Tuesday’s literary event in Lagos, Soyinka questioned Trump’s stated reasons for robbing so many visas and questioned whether they actually improved US national security.
He claimed that “governments have a way of papering things out for their own survival.”
