‘I Feel Sad About Current State Of America’ – Soyinka

Nobel Prize winner, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has expressed his sorrow regarding the current situation in the United States under the leadership of President Donald Trump.

It could be recalled that Soyinka stated in 2016 that he would renounce his green card if Trump were elected.

In a recent interview, Soyinka described the current situation in America as one of the saddest developing phenomena that he knows of.

Naija News reports that Soyinka made this statement during an interview with freelance arts journalist Laura Collins-Hughes, which appeared in the New York Times.

In the article titled “At 90, Wole Soyinka Revisits His Younger, More Optimistic Self,” Collins-Hughes reported that the Nobel laureate feels troubled by the recent developments in the U.S., a country he once called home during his self-imposed exile, referring to it as “MAGA land.”

“I just feel very, very sad that what’s happening in the States should be happening in such a potentially progressive country,” the nonagenarian world-acclaimed writer said.

Asked if he feels safe in the US these days, given the current political atmosphere in which foreign governments — including Britain, Germany and Canada — have warned their citizens about travelling to the United States, Soyinka said, “Oh, I’ve lived in a constant state of nonsafety.”

“So I’m used to that. If I’m walking through the street and they pick me up, I have no problem whatsoever. You know, my laptop is where it is. It’s up in the clouds,” he said with a smile.

Since his return to the political scene, Trump has initiated a robust campaign targeting irregular immigration in the United States, while also implementing tariff increases on various trade partners worldwide, including Nigeria, where he set a 14% tariff on Nigerian exports to the US.

The United States justified this 14% tariff on Nigerian goods by pointing to Nigeria’s prohibition of 25 American products.

In a 2016 interaction with The INTERVIEW, Soyinka voiced his discontent regarding Trump’s presidency, suggesting it posed significant challenges for humanity.

He further declared his intention to renounce his green card on January 20, 2017, the day Trump was scheduled to be inaugurated as the 45th President of the United States.

When asked if he still intended to thrash the card, he said, “Come January 20, 2017; watch my WOLEXIT!”