The United States of America was right, fully right, to revoke Professor Wole Soyinka’s visa if indeed he once tore his American green card. That act was not a symbol of protest. It was a public declaration of contempt.
You cannot tear up a nation’s symbol of trust and privilege and then expect to walk back into that same nation with entitlement. The American visa is not a souvenir. It’s a covenant of respect between the bearer and the State.
When Professor Soyinka ripped his green card in 2016 to protest America’s political direction, he was not just rejecting an administration. He was rejecting the sovereignty of the United States itself. Every lawful government acts to defend its dignity, its borders, and its symbols of authority. To revoke his visa is not pettiness. It is principle. It is America saying, you cannot mock our values and still demand our hospitality.
This decision by the United States government reinforces a timeless truth: freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequence, and prestige does not equate to immunity. No Nobel Prize or global recognition grants anyone the right to insult a nation and still expect red-carpet treatment from it.
America, like any great nation, must guard its honor. The revocation of Professor Soyinka’s visa is not vengeance. It is a reaffirmation that respect is mutual and that even the loudest critics must be reminded that privileges in the United States are earned, not inherited, and certainly not abused.
Nigeria must also learn to guard its reputation and dignity with firmness and pride. A nation that demands respect must first respect itself. It is time for Nigeria to stand tall, speak boldly, and act decisively, just as the United States does when its honor is challenged.
If you tear a bridge, you cannot demand passage across it.
Prof. Sandra C Duru
