Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has reportedly had his United States visa revoked by the American government.
According to a letter dated October 23, 2025, from the US Consulate-General in Lagos, Soyinka was instructed to submit his passport for visa cancellation.
The document cited “additional information” obtained after the visa was issued as the reason for the decision.
The development comes years after Soyinka made global headlines for cutting up his US green card in 2016 following Trump’s election victory.
Before the 2016 election, the literary icon had vowed to destroy his green card if Trump won.
Speaking at Oxford University’s Ertegun House that year, he boldly declared, “The moment they announce his victory, I will cut my green card myself and start packing up.”
True to his word, Soyinka later confirmed at a conference in South Africa that he had indeed carried out the act.
“I have already done it; I have disengaged from the United States. I have done what I said I would do,” he stated.
He went further to explain his reasons, 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.”
Soyinka clarified that his decision was not an act of hatred but a stand against what he called Trump’s “xenophobic rhetoric.”
He argued that the US president’s divisive campaign remarks against Blacks, Hispanics, and Muslimsrepresented values he could not support.
Moreover, the professor of literature insisted that as long as Trump remained in power, he would visit the United States only with a regular visa.
Soyinka first obtained his green card in the 1990s during a sabbatical at Emory University, a process reportedly facilitated by former US President Jimmy Carter.
For decades, he maintained a strong academic and cultural relationship with the United States.
However, with the revocation of his non-immigrant visa, those ties now appear to be officially severed.
The playwright disclosed that his latest trip to the US was meant to address a tax audit issue raised by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
He said the purpose of his planned visit was simply to clarify his tax records and avoid being labelled a “tax dodger.”
A US green card grants lawful permanent residency, but holders can voluntarily renounce it by filing Form I-407 with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or by simply ceasing residence and showing intent to abandon the status.
Soyinka’s dramatic “Wolexit” was both a political and personal statement reflecting his rejection of Trump’s leadership style and his lifelong commitment to speaking truth to power.
