Keypoints:
- Nobel laureate declines 9/11 visa recheck
- Calls request bizarre and unnecessary
- Questions US leadership motives
NOBEL laureate Wole Soyinka has declined an invitation from the United States Consulate in Nigeria for a visa reinterview scheduled on September 11, describing the request as ‘strange’ and unnecessary.
In an interview with Nigerian outlet TheNEWS online, the distinguished writer said he initially thought the email invitation for B1/B2 visa holders was a scam. ‘I thought it was these scammers who prey on those eager to get visas elsewhere, with promises to deliver visas for a certain amount,’ he said, adding that he only realised it was genuine after careful checks.
Finds the invitation bizarre
Soyinka noted that he is not treating the matter as a personal issue but finds the consulate’s action unsettling. ‘I have never received that kind of letter from any embassy. I thought maybe AI had been generating generic letters. It was very strange,’ he explained.
He added that he has long enjoyed courteous relations with US diplomats but sees no reason to comply with a request he views as needless. ‘I have more important things to do than chase visas for places I don’t want to go to and where I am not wanted,’ he said.
Objects to 9/11 interview date
The playwright strongly criticised the decision to set the interview for September 11, a date that marks the 2001 attacks in the United States. ‘To me, 9/11 should be regarded as a day of national mourning, of atonement. They should close down offices on that day, not invite people to have their visas taken away,’ he remarked.
Calling himself ‘a little bit superstitious,’ Soyinka said he would avoid any engagement with the US consulate on that date. ‘If they don’t shut down, at least I would shut down my relationship with them on that day. I will be airborne somewhere,’ he declared.
Cites concerns over US leadership
While acknowledging that embassy invitations represent a government’s request, Soyinka questioned the motives of the current US administration. Without naming President Donald Trump directly, he referred to a ‘white Idi Amin’ in power and suggested caution in dealings with Washington.
The US Consulate in Lagos has recently sent similar notices to other Nigerians holding B1/B2 visas, asking them to attend reinterviews. The consulate has not publicly explained the reason for the exercise.
