Chimamanda: My feelings towards Nigeria have changed after son’s death

Award-winning Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has said the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu, has changed her feelings towards Nigeria.

Adichie made this known in an interview with The New York Times, where she spoke about her son’s death and its impact on her relationship with the country.

Asked whether Nigeria still felt close to her heart, the author said, “My feelings toward Nigeria have changed.”

She added, “I do not want to go back to Nigeria.”

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

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

She said his condition did not improve, prompting them to take him to the hospital for further examination.

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

Recounting the incident, she said a doctor later told her that the child had been given too much propofol.

“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.

The author had in June raised allegations of medical negligence over the treatment her son received.

The circumstances surrounding the death are currently the subject of a coroner’s inquest, amid disagreements between the family and the hospital.

Adichie said her children could be the only reason she might consider returning to Nigeria, noting that her daughter still regarded the country as her “happy place.”