Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka has rejected an invitation by the United States Consulate in Nigeria to attend a visa re-interview scheduled for Thursday.
Speaking in an interview with PM News/The NEWS, Soyinka said he initially thought the invitation letter was a scam.
“I thought it was advance fee fraud,” he said, adding that he suspected scammers had circulated a generic invitation since he had never before received such a letter from any embassy.
Soyinka later confirmed the letter’s authenticity but maintained he would not honour it. “So the question of going to such an interview is totally out of consideration,” he stressed.
The Nobel laureate also faulted the choice of September 11 for the exercise, describing it as insensitive.
“To me, 9/11 should be regarded as a day of national mourning… They should close down offices on that day… If they don’t shut down, at least I would shut down my relationship with them,” he said.
Soyinka further criticised US President Donald Trump, likening him to the late Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. “If Idi Amin says I should come to his embassy, I would think twice before going because I don’t know what is waiting for me on the other side of the door,” he said, calling Trump a “White Idi Amin.”
According to him, his refusal to attend the re-interview could encourage broader reflection within America. “Maybe individuals, small, minuscule action like this… collectively… may enable the American people [to] embark on this process of deep introspection,” he said.
This is not the first time Soyinka has publicly opposed Trump’s leadership. In December 2016, he vowed to tear up his US green card in protest at Trump’s election victory, describing it as a setback to the diversity represented by Barack Obama’s presidency.
The re-interview invitation reportedly targets holders of the B1/B2 visa category, used for business and tourist travel, but Soyinka’s outright rejection has drawn widespread attention given his global stature.
