By Adesina Soyooye
The United States of America has revoked the Non Immigrant Visa it granted Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka.
Professor Soyinka revealed the surprising situation Tuesday at a Media Briefing.
Soyinka said that with the revocation of his visa, his entry into the United States has become impossible.
At the Media parley he held at Kongi’s Harvest Gallery, Freedom Park, Lagos Island, Soyinka said he was not aware of any wrongdoing that warranted the revocation.
He said:
“It is necessary for me to hold this conference so that people in the United States who are expecting me for this event or that event do not waste their time.
“I have no visa; I am banned, obviously, from the United States. And if you want to see me, you know where to find me,”
Soyinka says it is not clear to him why his visa was revoked, and was still in the dark as to why.
Soyinka said the US Consulate informed him of the revocation in a letter dated October 23, 2025 which reads in part:
“This letter serves as official notification by the United States Consulate General in Lagos that the Non Immigrant visa listed below has been revoked pursuant to the authority contained in U.S. Department of State regulations.”
It was issued by the NIV Section of the Consulate.
Soyinka, who said he was confused over the development, said: “I’m still looking into my past history… I don’t have any past criminal record or even a felony or misdemeanour to qualify for the revocation.
“I’ve started looking back—have I ever misbehaved toward the United States of America? Do I have a history? Have I been convicted? Have I gone against the law anywhere?”
A Nigerian evening newspaper, PM News had on September 10, 2025, reported that Soyinka said he would not honour an invitation by the US Consulate in Nigeria for a visa re-interview, scheduled for Thursday, September 11.
He disclosed to PM News in an interview while reacting to the recent invitation sent by the American Consulate to Nigerians holding B1/B2 visas, which asked them to appear for what it called a “visa interview.”
The Nobel Laureate’s visa is a B1/B2 category —a temporary, non-immigrant visa for travel to the United States for business (B-1) or tourism (B-2).
Soyinka said:
“I would like to begin by stressing the fact that, for me, this is not a personal issue. I have no idea how you got to know. By the way, I also received the letter, which at first I thought was fake. I thought it came from scammers who prey on those eager to get visas elsewhere, promising to deliver them for a certain amount. I thought they had simply picked my name among others, knowing there was a list of invitees.
“So, at first, I thought it was advance-fee fraud because I had never received that kind of letter from that or any other embassy. I even thought that maybe AI had been generating generic letters. It was very strange.
“So, by the time I came to terms with the fact that the letter was genuine, my mind went to my relationship with individual ambassadors, Consuls General, and Cultural Attachés. As you know, it has always been a courteous relationship,” Soyinka told PM News in September.
Recall, however, that Soyinka had in 2015, threatened he would tear his US Green Card if then Candidate Donald Trump won. It was not made public when he tore it. But, he obviously did since his revoked Visa is the B1/B2 category.
During the immediate past US Presidential election, Professor Soyinka was, also, among the many Nobel Laureates against his candidacy and/or victory.
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