Nigeria’s Nobel Prize-winning author Wole Soyinka has revealed that the United States has revoked his non-immigrant visa, less than a year after it was issued, in a move that has sparked widespread curiosity and concern.

The 91-year-old literary icon, who became Africa’s first Nobel laureate in Literature in 1986, told reporters on Tuesday that he received a formal notification from the US Consulate General in Lagos requesting that he surrender his passport for the physical cancellation of the visa.

According to a letter dated October 23, the revocation followed the discovery of “additional information” that emerged after the visa had been granted. The letter did not specify the nature of that information.

“I have no visa — I am banned, obviously, from the United States. If you want to see me, you know where to find me,” Soyinka said wryly, addressing those who may have planned to invite him to literary events or academic engagements in the US.

The US Embassy in Nigeria has yet to issue an official statement regarding the revocation.

Soyinka, who famously tore up his US green card in 2016 to protest the election of former President Donald Trump, has long had deep ties with the US, having held teaching positions at Harvard, Yale, and Emory universities since the mid-1990s.

The revocation comes amid recent changes to US visa policies for Nigerians, with the embassy announcing in July 2025 that non-immigrant visitors would now receive single-entry, three-month permits, instead of the previous five-year, multiple-entry visas.

While Soyinka’s literary influence remains global, the revocation marks another chapter in the celebrated author’s often fraught relationship with political authority both at home and abroad.