I will not tear my U.S. residency permit just yet – Soyinka


Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, Wednesday, stated that he will not destroy his United States’ residency permit just yet; while he warned that the victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential race could jeopardize U.S. support in Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram. In an interview with Newsweek, Soyinka stated that Trump’s ‘bunker mentality’ could see the U.S. withdraw support for counter-terrorism operations in West Africa.


Following the announcement of Trump’s victory, Nigerians took to social media to question Soyinka about whether he would honour his pledge. In response, the report quoted Soyinka as saying that he is biding his time until Trump is inaugurated in January before deciding on his next steps.

“Why don’t we wait until Trump actually takes office? I am just going about my normal commitments, but definitely not getting into any more commitments. Let’s put it that way for now,” he said. According to the report, under the administration of Barack Obama, the U.S. has provided financial support and military training to West African countries fighting Boko Haram.

The U.S., it said, provided $71 million worth of equipment, logistics and training to five countries—Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Benin—that together formed a joint task force in 2015 to fight the militants, according to a February fact sheet from the U.S. State Department. Obama also approved the deployment of up to 300 U.S. military personnel to Cameroon in October 2015 to carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations in the region.

“One should expect that level of collaboration to diminish. Trump’s mentality is one of, ‘What are we doing there? What business do we have over there?’” Soyinka stated. “I foresee Trump dismissing

The report said Soyinka is based between Nigeria and the U.S., where he is affiliated to several universities. Excerpt of the interview with Newsweek The victory of Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential race could jeopardize U.S. support in Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram, according to Nigerian Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka.

 In an exclusive interview, Soyinka tells Newsweek that Trump’s “bunker mentality” could see the U.S. withdraw support for counter-terrorism operations in West Africa.

The Nigerian author and playwright also says that he will not destroy his U.S. residency permit just yet, despite a pre-election pledge to “cut” his green card, which is afforded to immigrants granted permanent residence in the country. Nigerian Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka takes part in a debate in Berlin, Germany, July 3, 2012.

Soyinka pledged to cut up his green card if Donald Trump was elected U.S. president.

 Trump, the Republican party candidate, shocked pollsters by defeating Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s vote. The businessman and former reality television star secured victories in key swing states, capitalizing on an anti-establishment feeling among voters to win out against his more experienced rival. Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group, launched an armed insurgency against the Nigerian government in 2009, killing thousands and displacing more than 2 million since then.

 The group also pledged allegiance to the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) in 2015, though it has recently split into factions following the appointment in August of an ISIS-approved leader. Under the administration of Barack Obama, the U.S. has provided financial support and military training to West African countries fighting Boko Haram. The U.S. provided $71 million worth of equipment, logistics and training to five countries—Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Benin—that together formed a joint task force in 2015 to fight the militants, according to a February fact sheet from the U.S. State Department. Obama also approved the deployment of up to 300 U.S. military personnel to Cameroon in October 2015 to carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations in the region. “One should expect that level of collaboration to diminish. Trump’s mentality is one of, ‘What are we doing there? What business do we have over there?’” says Soyinka, speaking to Newsweek from New York. “I foresee Trump dismissing that kind of expectation offhand and closing in, shrinking, becoming smaller in terms of [the U.S.’s] presence in other parts of the world,” he says. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari extended his congratulations to Trump on Wednesday, saying that he looked forward to working with the president-elect “to build on and strengthen relations between Nigeria and the U.S.” Trump had little to say about U.S. foreign policy towards Africa in general and Nigeria specifically during his presidential campaign. While he has vowed to pursue ISIS in Syria and Iraq, the Republican has made no mention of whether he intends to persist with or discontinue the country’s support for counter-terrorism efforts in West Africa.

 Newsweek contacted the Trump campaign for further comment but received no immediate reply. An analysis by South Africa-based thinktank the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) suggested that Trump could become “the single most effective recruiting tool for terrorist organizations across the globe,” including in Africa.

The ISS cited Trump’s hardline rhetoric towards Muslims, his advocation of the use of torture and expressed desire to target the families of militants all as potential factors in Trump being used by militant groups in recruitment drives.

Trump’s campaign pledge to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the U.S. has already been used in a propaganda video by Al-Shabab, a Somali militant group aligned with Al-Qaeda. Soyinka is based between Nigeria and the U.S., where he is affiliated to several universities.

In a recent discussion with students at the University of Oxford in the U.K., which was shared in a video on October 27, the author vowed to destroy his green card should Trump be declared the winner of the election.

Following the announcement of Trump’s victory on Wednesday, Nigerians took to social media to question Soyinka about whether he would honor his pledge.

The Nigerian author—who was the first African to win the Nobel Prize in literature in 1986—says he is biding his time until Trump is inaugurated in January before deciding on his next steps.

“Why don’t we wait until Trump actually takes office?” says Soyinka.

“I’m just going about my normal commitments, but definitely not getting into any more commitments. Let’s put it that way for now.”
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  1. Now Mr Soyinka is saying Why don't we wait until Trump actually takes office? Why didn't you think of that b4 making rash comments and threats about you tearing your residency permit if Trump wins? Now you are going back on your words, eating humble pie. You put your faith too much in Hillary Clinton to win. Now it's like a nightmare that Trump wins. How Hillary-Us :-)

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  2. Kongi, leave grammer aside. Integrity means saying something and doing it;honesty..A ni APC government don teach you the act of lying, deceit and shifting blame? All na moral corruption which goes hand in hand with material corruption. So, no grammer.Tear your green card or else no one will take you seriously again. Cikena!
    Chanji dole!
    Sai Baba!

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  3. What relationship does this share with your definitive assertion that you would have your green card destroyed if Trump was elected president of USA? Outright circumlotion!!!Gobbledygook!!!

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  4. Old foul u can never stick by ur words that's why things is not moving in this country

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  5. Old foul u can never stick by ur words that's why things is not moving in this country

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  6. You see How a typical Nigerian thinks!!! Prof or no Prof!!! We are all corrupt and selfish!!! I jst hope this is coming from him

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  7. Where then is your integrity?
    @#Soyinkatearitnow#
    Sai Trump!
    Chanji Dole!

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  8. Your statement was if he "wins". Uncle you did not say sworn in. Anyway I never expected you to tear it. But am sure Donald Trump must have read your statement and knows how to render that green card void without you doing the tearing.

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  9. As a public figure he have no choice than to fulfil his promise to the world, thereby tearing the green card as soon as possible, anything other than that is a breach of agreement

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