(LAGOS, NIGERIA) Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka said on October 28, 2025 that the United States consulate in Lagos has revoked his U.S. visa, preventing him from traveling to the country where he has long-standing personal and professional ties. The 91-year-old playwright and essayist told reporters at a press briefing at his Lagos residence that the U.S. Consulate General informed him in writing that “additional information became available” after the visa was issued, and instructed him to bring in his passport so the document could be physically canceled.
The letter, dated October 23, 2025, was shared with the media by Soyinka to confirm the action. He said he called journalists to his home gallery, Kongi’s Harvest in Lagos, so that those expecting him in the United States would not wait in vain.
“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,” he said.
Soyinka described the decision as abrupt and startling, telling reporters he had planned to travel soon to the United States for a specific administrative purpose rather than a public event.
“I was shocked by the development, noting that my planned trip to the United States was intended to resolve a tax audit issue with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), in order to prevent being labelled a ‘tax dodger.’”
He emphasized that this was not about seeking opportunities or engagements, but about clearing a routine tax matter so the issue would not linger.
The U.S. consulate’s request that he personally bring in his passport to have the visa canceled drew a wry response from Soyinka, who has lived and worked for years between Nigeria and U.S. institutions.
“This is one of the most humorous sentences or requests I’ve had in my life—that I should bring my passport to the consulate to have a stamp on the page. Will any of you like to volunteer in my place and take it for me? I’m a little bit busy and rushed.”
He did not say if or when he might comply with that instruction, but his tone underscored his irritation at both the manner and timing of the revocation.
According to the documents he circulated, the revoked travel document was a B1/B2 non-immigrant visa, which is typically used for business meetings, short visits, or tourism, and is distinct from any residence or work authorization. The consulate’s letter cited “unspecified newly available information” as the reason for the revocation, without elaborating. The State Department’s public guidance says consular officers can revoke a non-immigrant visa when new information surfaces that suggests a person may no longer be eligible, but it does not require the government to disclose details to the visa holder. General information on the B-1/B-2 category is available on the U.S. Department of State’s visitor visas page.
The Lagos-born writer said the U.S. side had, weeks earlier, invited him to a new visa interview after his document had already been issued. He refused.
“The question of going to such an interview is totally out of consideration.”
He added that he found both the substance and the scheduling of the appointment unacceptable. He had previously declined a U.S. consulate invitation for a reinterview set for September 11, 2025, calling the request “strange and bizarre” and condemning the choice of date as “a day of national mourning, of atonement by the Consulate of the United States. They should close down offices on that day, not to keep inviting people to come and have their visas taken away.”
The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the revocation or to explain what new information prompted it, leaving Soyinka’s case without official clarification from Washington’s representatives in Lagos. Without an explanation, the decision lands amid a broader tightening of consular practices for Nigerians that took effect this year. In July 2025, the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria changed its policy and began limiting non-immigrant visas for Nigerians to single-entry, three-month permits, replacing the earlier practice of issuing multiple-entry visas valid for up to five years. That shift—coming after years in which frequent travelers counted on longer validity—has reshaped how businesspeople, academics, artists, and family visitors plan trips.
Soyinka, who has been an invited scholar and artist at U.S. universities and theaters for decades, said he does not intend to apply again for a new U.S. visa. Asked directly whether he would seek another document, he answered,
“How old am I? What am I going to do in the US? Human beings live there, my friends, families, colleagues. There are productions going on there. I won’t take the initiative because there is nothing I am looking for there. I have contributed in establishing some institutions there. I give them as much as they gave me. They owe me nothing, I owe them nothing.”
The remark underscored both his age and his sense that his relationship to the United States, including its cultural and academic institutions, is reciprocal rather than dependent.
Pressed on what might lie behind the abrupt move, the Nobel laureate pointed to his long record of political commentary, including sharp criticism of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. He recalled discarding his U.S. green card after Trump’s election, and has referred to Trump as “Idi Amin in whiteface.” Soyinka stressed that he has done nothing criminal in the United States and maintains cordial relations with American citizens and organizations, but he suggested his outspokenness may have made him a target for closer scrutiny. He reiterated that he would not participate in any additional consular interview and that he is not taking steps to reverse the revocation.
At the Lagos briefing, the playwright—who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986 and later taught as the Goldwin Smith Professor at Cornell University—framed the matter as an inconvenience for people who had scheduled events or meetings in expectation of his travel.
“If individuals wish to see me, they know where to find me,” he said, adding that he would continue meeting collaborators and friends in Nigeria while the U.S. visa remains canceled.
The location of Tuesday’s press event, at Kongi’s Harvest Gallery in Lagos, reinforced the point: Soyinka’s base remains in Nigeria, and those seeking conversations or appearances would have to adjust plans accordingly.
The reference to the Internal Revenue Service also revealed a practical dimension to the canceled trip. Soyinka said he had planned to settle a tax audit issue and did not want to be branded a “tax dodger,” a label he plainly rejects. He emphasized that he has acted within the law in the United States and that his interactions with U.S. institutions have been formal and above board. In his telling, the visa revocation interrupts a compliance task that he now must tackle from Lagos, or by delegating, rather than by appearing in person.
Soyinka’s tone shifted between dry humor and resolute refusal as he recounted the language of the consulate’s notice. The letter instructed him to present his passport for a physical cancellation stamp.
“This is one of the most humorous sentences or requests I’ve had in my life—that I should bring my passport to the consulate to have a stamp on the page. Will any of you like to volunteer in my place and take it for me? I’m a little bit busy and rushed.”
That mix of levity and impatience ran through his remarks, as did a clear insistence that he will not chase an audience at the consulate or sit for an interview he did not request.
While the reasons remain undisclosed, the revocation of a B1/B2 visa is a blunt instrument, especially for a frequent traveler like Soyinka who is integrated into American cultural life. The B-1/B-2 category covers short-term business consultations, conferences, and tourism; for someone of Soyinka’s standing, such a visa historically facilitated attendance at performances, academic engagements, and institutional meetings. By removing it with immediate effect, the consulate effectively blocks him from taking up any U.S.-based invitation, including callbacks from theaters or universities that might be staging his work or host lectures—commitments that often hinge on reliable entry.
The ripple effects for organizers in the United States may be immediate. Soyinka opened his remarks by warning that
“people in the United States who are expecting me for this event or that event do not waste their time.”
That line served both as a courtesy to would-be hosts and a blunt acknowledgment that any plans resting on his presence now need to be canceled or moved. In practical terms, anyone in the U.S. who hoped to discuss productions, academic collaborations, or public conversations with him will have to find him in Lagos, where he made himself available:
“And if you want to see me, you know where to find me.”
The timing of the reinterview request—set for the anniversary of the September 11 attacks—was particularly galling to Soyinka. He called it “strange and bizarre” and described September 11 as “a day of national mourning, of atonement by the Consulate of the United States. They should close down offices on that day, not to keep inviting people to come and have their visas taken away.” By linking the date to a solemn ritual he believes the consulate should observe, he implied that the choice was either insensitive or designed to unsettle. Regardless, he made clear he would not attend:
“The question of going to such an interview is totally out of consideration.”
He also telegraphed that he has no interest in negotiating his way back to the United States, emphasizing both a lifetime of exchange with American colleagues and his current contentment staying put.
“I am very content with the revocation of my visa and that as I said they are always welcome as individuals as citizens to interact on any number level.”
The note about individuals is consistent with his record of working through networks of artists, academics, and activists rather than relying on official channels, and it aligns with his earlier invitation for friends and collaborators to meet him in Lagos instead of waiting for him in the U.S.
Soyinka’s remark that he has “contributed in establishing some institutions there” alludes to a deep footprint across American campuses and arts spaces. That history makes the revocation all the more striking: for decades, Wole Soyinka has moved between Lagos and U.S. cities, meeting students, staging plays, giving talks, and entering civic debates. The revocation does not erase that legacy, but it does interrupt it. It also raises logistical questions for U.S. hosts who had counted on predictable visa validity—questions that have become more pressing since the July 2025 policy shift limiting Nigerian travelers to single-entry, three-month non-immigrant visas.
For now, the only official paper in the case is the consulate’s letter citing “additional information” and ordering the physical cancellation of the visa. Soyinka has publicized that document, saying it is the formal basis for the move and the reason for Tuesday’s announcement. Without a response from the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, the Nigerian public is left with the writer’s account: a sudden revocation of a B-1/B-2 visa, a refusal to attend a reinterview scheduled on September 11, 2025, and an insistence that anyone who needs him can find him at Kongi’s Harvest Gallery in Lagos.
The wider significance lies in the signal it sends to Nigerian frequent travelers amid a tightening consular climate. In the absence of any stated infraction or legal issue, the revocation appears to be grounded entirely in undisclosed information evaluated by consular officers, a reminder of the broad discretion built into non-immigrant visa decisions. As one of Nigeria’s most prominent public intellectuals—and a figure whose name is synonymous with the country’s literary stature—Wole Soyinka chose to make the decision public, not to mount an appeal, but to spare U.S.-based contacts wasted effort and to draw a line under future travel to the United States unless circumstances change.
He closed his remarks by returning to a simple point that blends resignation with a measure of defiance.
“If individuals wish to see me, they know where to find me,” Soyinka said.
In Lagos, with passport in hand and a U.S. visa now revoked, he gave no indication that he will present himself at the consulate for the requested cancellation stamp or reapply for another U.S. visa. Instead, he left the impression that his work will continue on his terms, from his city, and that those who want a conversation or a collaboration should plan for Lagos, not for a U.S. airport queue.
This Article in a Nutshell
Wole Soyinka announced that the U.S. consulate in Lagos revoked his B1/B2 visa via a October 23, 2025 letter citing “additional information.” He said his planned U.S. trip was to resolve an IRS tax audit and that he rejected a reinterview scheduled for September 11, 2025. Soyinka indicated he will not reapply and will continue work from Lagos. The move comes as the U.S. in July 2025 limited Nigerian non-immigrant visas to single-entry, three-month permits, changing travel planning for frequent visitors.
