Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has said he is not ready to publicly evaluate the administration of President Bola Tinubu, citing the constant distortion of his statements by sections of the public.
The world-renowned playwright stated this in an interview with BBC News Yoruba, published on Facebook on Tuesday.
Speaking in Yoruba, Soyinka said he preferred to take his time before commenting on the Tinubu administration, adding that whatever he said was often twisted out of context.
“I have been asked that question by several people,” he said. “I don’t want to answer because it seems as if there’s nothing one says that won’t be twisted, and I’m tired of that. So, I want to take my time. When it’s time, I will write my view on that.”
A consistent critic of successive governments, Soyinka has never shied away from speaking truth to power.
He had in the past taken on former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan and the late Muhammadu Buhari over issues of governance, insecurity and corruption.
The Nobel laureate, however, has yet to make any public assessment of Tinubu’s government, more than two years after the administration came into office.
In 2019, he berated the Buhari administration for failing to address Nigeria’s security crisis, and in 2021, he told Kaftan TV that he preferred to avoid discussing the government entirely “for the sake of sanity.”
Soyinka also spoke on the recent withdrawal of his U.S. visa, confirming that the American embassy in Lagos had revoked it.
He said officials had asked him to present his passport for them to stamp the cancellation, a request he rejected.
“They are jokers,” he said. “I should take my passport to those who revoked my visa? I told them they should come to my house and stamp it themselves.
I will not be applying again or sitting down to fill any form, whether online or at their office.”
The 91-year-old said he bore no grudge against the American people but insisted he would not make any fresh visa application.
“If they later realise they made a mistake and want to give it back, they should bring it to my house.
And before you come, you will need a visa to enter,” he added with a wry smile.
Last week, during a media parley at Kongi’s Harvest Art Gallery, Freedom Park, Lagos Island, Soyinka publicly announced the revocation of his B1/B2 visa by the U.S. Embassy, saying he felt compelled to clarify the situation for those expecting him at events abroad.
“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,” he said.