By Opeyeemi Adelakun
Award-winning Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has said the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu, has fundamentally altered her feelings towards Nigeria, saying she no longer wants to return to the country.
Adichie made the disclosure in an interview with The New York Times, where she spoke about the death of her son and the circumstances she said have changed her relationship with her home country.
Asked whether Nigeria still felt close to her heart, the author said, “My feelings toward Nigeria have changed.”
“I do not want to go back to Nigeria,” she added.
Nkanu, one of Adichie’s twin sons, died in December 2025 following a medical emergency at Euracare in Nigeria.
Recounting the events surrounding his death, Adichie said the child initially developed a fever and was placed on antibiotics by her husband, Ivara Esege.
She said that after his condition failed to improve, they took him to the hospital for further medical examination.
According to Adichie, Nkanu was subsequently sedated with propofol during an MRI examination, after which he suffered cardiac arrest and died the following day.
She recalled that a doctor later approached her in a panicked state and attributed the incident to the amount of propofol administered.
“He was very calm and he said to me, ‘Well, look, they gave him too much Propofol.’ Those were his exact words, which I will never forget until the day I die,” she recalled.
Adichie had publicly raised allegations of medical negligence over the treatment her son received at the hospital in June.
The circumstances surrounding Nkanu’s death are now the subject of a coroner’s inquest, although proceedings have reportedly been affected by delays and disagreements between the family and the hospital.
Euracare has also reportedly accused Adichie and her husband of destroying evidence by cremating their son’s remains, a claim linked to the ongoing inquest.
The couple have called for improvements in Nigeria’s healthcare system but, according to the report, have not instituted a lawsuit against the hospital.
Despite her decision not to return to Nigeria for now, Adichie said her children could provide the only reason she might reconsider in the future.
She noted that her daughter still viewed Nigeria as her “happy place”.
Before Nkanu’s death, Adichie said Nigeria was deeply connected to her identity and writing career, describing the country as the place where she received “everything” that helped shape her life and work.
However, she said the loss of her son had transformed that connection.
Reflecting on the grief, Adichie said the reality of her son’s death remained difficult to comprehend.
“I mean, it is so surreal, all of this. I still can’t believe we’re talking about my son who died,” she said.
“You’re going through something, but you also feel like you’re outside of it.”
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