Nigerian Nobel Prize winner for literature Wole Soyinka revealed on Tuesday that his US non-resident visa had been revoked, weeks after he compared Donald Trump to Idi Amin, the former Ugandan dictator.
Aged 91, Soyinka – the first African to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986 – explained to the press that it was not, according to him, a personal decision, but rather a reflection of American migration policies.
“It’s not about me,” he said. But one principle is at stake: human beings deserve to be treated with decency, wherever they are. »
An old thwarted love affair with America
The writer, who taught for a long time in the United States and had a green card, joked that she had “had an accident” eight years ago, “falling between a pair of scissors”. In 2017, he publicly destroyed his green card to protest Donald Trump’s arrival at the White House.
According to the letter he received, the revocation of his visa was due to the fact that “additional information became available after its issuance”, without further details.
Soyinka believes, however, that the real reason could be his recent statement likening Trump to “a white version of Idi Amin,” a remark that might have displeased Washington.
The U.S. Embassy in Lagos referred all questions to the State Department in Washington, which did not immediately respond.
Not without irony, Soyinka called this letter a “declaration of love” and assured that he would never apply for a visa again.
“I am obviously banned from the United States,” he said. If you want to see me, you know where to find me.”
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