‘I don’t want to go back to Nigeria’ — Chimamanda after son’s death
Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has said the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu, has changed her feelings towards Nigeria, adding that she no longer wants to return to the country.
Adichie made this known in an interview with The New York Times, where she spoke about the loss of her son and how the circumstances surrounding his death have affected her relationship with her home country.
Asked whether Nigeria still felt close to her heart, the award winning 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.
Adichie said her son initially developed a fever and was placed on antibiotics by her husband, Ivara Esege.
When his condition did not improve, the couple took him to the hospital for further medical examination.
She said Nkanu was subsequently sedated with propofol during an MRI examination, after which he suffered cardiac arrest and died the following day.
Recounting what happened after the procedure, Adichie said a doctor 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 in June publicly raised allegations of medical negligence over the treatment her son received at the hospital.
The circumstances surrounding Nkanu’s death are currently the subject of a coroner’s inquest, with the proceedings reportedly involving 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 filed a lawsuit against the hospital.
Speaking about whether she could return to Nigeria in the future, Adichie said her children could be the only reason she would consider doing so.
She noted that her daughter still regarded Nigeria as her “happy place.”
Before Nkanu’s death, Adichie said Nigeria remained deeply connected to her identity and her work as a writer.
She described the country as the place where she received “everything” that helped shape her career and identity as an author.
However, she said the loss of her son had fundamentally changed 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.”