Chimamanda Adichie rules out returning to Nigeria following son’s death

Nigeria Author, Chimamanda Adichie. Photo: Facebook/Chimamanda Adichie

Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has said she no longer feels the same way about Nigeria following the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu.

Adichie, in an interview with The New York Times sighted by PUNCH Online on Sunday, said the loss of her son had changed her feelings towards her home country.

Asked whether Nigeria still felt like somewhere close to her heart, the author gave a blunt response.

“My feelings toward Nigeria have changed,” she said.

“I do not want to go back to Nigeria.”

Nkanu, one of Adichie’s twin boys, died in December 2025 following a medical emergency at Euracare in Nigeria.

According to Adichie, the child initially developed a fever and was placed on antibiotics by her husband, Ivara Esege.

When his condition failed to improve, the couple took him to the hospital for further examination.

She said Nkanu was later sedated with propofol during an MRI examination, after which he suffered cardiac arrest and died the following day.

Recalling the incident, Adichie said a doctor approached her in a state of panic after the procedure.

“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.

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Adichie had in June publicly raised allegations of medical negligence concerning the treatment her son received at the hospital.

The circumstances surrounding Nkanu’s death have since become the subject of a coroner’s inquest, with the proceedings reportedly marked by delays and disagreements between the family and the hospital.

Euracare has reportedly accused Adichie and her husband of destroying evidence by cremating their son’s remains, an allegation connected to the ongoing proceedings.

Adichie and her husband have called for improvements in Nigeria’s healthcare system but have not instituted a lawsuit against the hospital, according to the report.

Speaking about the possibility of returning to Nigeria, Adichie said her children could be the only reason she would consider doing so.

She said her daughter still regarded Nigeria as her “happy place”.

Before her son’s death, Adichie said Nigeria remained deeply connected to her identity and writing, describing it as the place where she received “everything” that enabled her to become a writer.

However, the pain of losing her son has altered that connection.

“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.”