Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, on Wednesday, stated that he will not honour an invitation by the United States Consulate in Nigeria for a visa re-interview scheduled for Thursday, September 11.
Soyinka said he initially thought the development was the handiwork of scammers.
The literary icon revealed this in an exclusive interview with TheNEWS/PMNEWS while reacting to the recent invitation the American Consulate sent to Nigerians with B1/B2 visas, asking them to go to the American Consulate for what it calls a visa reinterview.
Soyinka, who is one of many Nigerians invited to that interview, noted that he had initially thought it was fake and a fraudulent move by scammers whose stock in trade was to dupe unsuspecting Nigerians.
He said, “I would like to begin by stressing the fact that, for me, this is not a personal issue. I have no idea how you got to know. By the way, I also have received the letter, which at first I thought was a fake. I thought it was these scammers who sort of prey on those eager to get visas elsewhere, with promises to deliver visas for a certain amount guaranteed. I thought they just picked my name among others because they knew there was a list of those who had been invited.
“So, at the beginning, I thought it was advance fee fraud because I had never received that kind of letter from that or any other embassy. I thought that maybe AI has been generating generic letters.
“It was very strange. So, by the time I came to terms with the fact that this letter is genuine, my mind just went to my relationship with individual ambassadors, Consul-Generals and Cultural Attachés. As you know, it’s always been a courteous relationship.”
The distinguished writer added that he has more important things to do than chase visas for places he doesn’t want to go to and where he was not wanted, saying, “So the question of going to such an interview is totally out of consideration.”
He noted that the date, 9/11, the American Consulate had chosen for the proposed interview, a day very critical for the United States was suspicious.
Soyinka maintained that he was a bit superstitious not just for the United States but for the rest of the world, given what that date signifies, affirming that, the day should be regarded as a day of national mourning, for deep, sober reflection, rather than for the perpetuation of ignoble motives such as an invitation for visa reinterview.
“They should close down offices on that day, not to keep inviting people to come and have their visas taken away. It should be a day of reflection, of serious, deep thinking in consideration of so many things.
“I think on that day, the United States should shut down completely, universally. If they don’t shut down, at least I would shut down my relationship with them on that day. Because I’m very superstitious. I’m not going anywhere near there on 9/11. I will be airborne somewhere,” Soyinka said.
He explained that although he considers invitations by embassies to be invitations from governments, depending on the kind of government, pointing out that the United States has a, “white Idi Amin” at the helm of affairs.
Soyinka, who said he was wary of such invitations because of his safety, added that, “Are we looking in the case of the United States, at the white Idi Amin, for instance? If you look very closely at the conduct, the behaviour, the mentality of the present incumbent president, you find out there are Idi Amins of different colours. And if Idi Amin says I should come to his embassy, I would think twice before going because I don’t know what is waiting for me on the other side of the door.
“So I’m afraid, I would have to, as the Americans say, take a rain check of this invitation and certainly I’m not going there on 9/11. No way. Maybe individuals, small, minuscule action like this, here and there, collectively, institutionally and so on may enable the American people embark on this process of deep introspection, which is really to review their position with the rest of the world and how the world looks at them especially at this critical period of world affairs.”
He said what the United States needs at this time is an exorcist, “So that’s all I want to say on that subject at this time. But there is a lot more to say in the future. We can now sit down objectively, analytically and ask what on earth has happened or is happening to the United States of America; perhaps in various conferences of writers, philosophers and of course psychologists. Because maybe what the United States needs right now is an exorcist. It could be. We never can tell. But I’m a bit superstitious. I’m not going there on 9/11,’’ Soyinka said.
He expressed happiness that the invitation for visa reinterview happened, “because it enabled us to examine so many facets of relationships between travellers from one country and another. And the possibility that somebody who’s made a home, made a living, a legitimate living elsewhere, obeys the laws and so on, wakes up someday and gets to the airport and then be told ‘you cannot rejoin your existence in another country.’ It must be a horrible thing.
“People like me are in a privileged position in the sense that we are nomadic anyway. But those who actually built homes there and suddenly to be told you cannot continue living there. I find it horrifying, inhuman and dehumanizing,” he said.
