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Nigeria’s Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, once vowed to destroy his U.S. green card if Donald Trump won the 2016 American presidential election.
Speaking at Oxford University in the United Kingdom ahead of the polls, Soyinka expressed concern over Trump’s potential immigration policies, saying he would personally discard his U.S. residency permit if the Republican candidate triumphed.
“It is unlikely that Trump will win, but if he does, the first thing he’ll do is to say all green card holders must reapply to return to the United States,” Soyinka declared.
“The moment they announce his victory, I will cut my green card myself and start packing up.”
Following Trump’s victory, Soyinka reaffirmed his intention to destroy the card, telling Premium Times that he would fulfill his promise “on his own terms.”
He later dismissed public outrage over his statement, maintaining that he had every right to decide his relationship with any country.
Soyinka obtained the green card during a political sabbatical at Emory University in the 1990s with assistance from the late US President Jimmy Carter.
Speaking at a conference in South Africa in 2016, the internationally acclaimed playwright and poet said he had thrown away the green card and returned to where he had always been.
“I have already done it; I have disengaged (from the United States). I have done what I said I would do,” Soyinka had said.
“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.
“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.”
He described his “Wolexit” as a protest against Trump’s “xenophobic rhetoric targeting Blacks, Hispanics, and Muslims” during the presidential election campaign.
A lawful permanent resident like Soyinka (green card holder) can voluntarily abandon or relinquish their US residency.
This is typically done by filing Form I-407, “Record of Abandonment of Lawful Permanent Resident Status,” with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) or at a US consulate abroad.
Informally, a person may stop residing in the US and demonstrate an intention to abandon residency, which can lead to loss of permanent resident status.
The US government has recently revoked Soyinka’s non-immigrant visa.
In a letter dated October 23 from the American consulate-general in Lagos, the US government instructed the Nobel laureate to present his passport for visa cancellation, citing “additional information” obtained after issuance.
Soyinka, who said he was not informed of any specific offence linked to the revocation, noted that he had applied for the visa after he received a letter from the US Internal Revenue Service about an audit for tax returns.
The renowned playwright explained that his trip was to resolve the tax issues, adding that he wanted to prevent a situation where the US might advertise him as a “tax dodger” to the world.
Nearly nine years later, the issue of Soyinka’s relationship with the United States has resurfaced — this time with the U.S. government revoking his visa.
On Tuesday, October 28, 2025, Soyinka confirmed that his nonimmigrant visa had been withdrawn, saying he was shocked and unaware of any wrongdoing that could have prompted the decision.
The development has sparked renewed public attention to Soyinka’s earlier comments about U.S. policies and his self-imposed symbolic “exit” from the country following Trump’s rise to power.
