The United States government has revoked the visa of Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka.

Mr Soyinka disclosed this during a media parley in Lagos titled, “Unending Saga: Idi Amin in White Face.”

The elder statesman noted that he had been critical of U.S. President Donald Trump, whom he likened to a former president of Uganda, Idi Amin.

The essayist added that the reason for the visa revocation was not disclosed to him by the U.S. Consulate, which informed him of the development in a letter.

Mr Soyinka said, “It’s 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.

“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?”

Mr Soyinka said he had nothing he was looking for in the U.S., recalling that he once vowed to destroy his green card if Mr Trump won the presidential election.
 
Yet, he said, “Yes, I may choose to apply for restoration of my card of Permanent Residence, known as the green card. Possibly.”

While giving a speech to students at Oxford University in England in 2016, Mr Soyinka said he would destroy his green card if Donald Trump became president of the United States.

“If in the unlikely event he does win, the first thing he’ll do is to say all green-card holders must reapply to come back into the US. Well, I’m not waiting for that,” said Mr Soyinka. “The moment they announce his victory, I will cut my green card myself and start packing up.”

In 2017, Mr Soyinka disclosed to The Atlantic that he had rendered his green card “inoperable.”

“I don’t have strong enough fingers to tear up a green card. As long as Trump is in charge, if I absolutely have to visit the United States, I prefer to go in the queue for a regular visa with others,” Mr Soyinka explained. “I’m no longer part of the society, not even as a resident.”