Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has revealed that the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu, has fundamentally changed her feelings towards Nigeria, saying she no longer wants to return to the country.
“My feelings toward Nigeria have changed,” Adichie said in an interview with The New York Times.
“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.
The award-winning author said the tragedy has deeply affected her relationship with a country that was once central to her identity, upbringing and literary journey.
Recounting the events surrounding her son’s death, Adichie said Nkanu 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.
According to Adichie, Nkanu was later sedated with propofol during an MRI examination, after which he suffered cardiac arrest and died the following day.
She recalled a doctor approaching her after the procedure and, according to her account, saying 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.
Adichie publicly raised allegations of medical negligence concerning the treatment her son received in June.
The circumstances surrounding Nkanu’s death are now the subject of a coroner’s inquest, with proceedings reportedly affected 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 made in connection with the ongoing proceedings.
Adichie and her husband have called for improvements in Nigeria’s healthcare system but, according to the report, have not instituted a lawsuit against the hospital.
The loss has also altered Adichie’s perception of a country she once regarded as an inseparable part of who she was.
Before her son’s death, she described Nigeria as the place where she received “everything” that enabled her to become a writer.
But the tragedy has now changed that emotional connection.
Asked about the possibility of returning to Nigeria, Adichie said her children could be the only reason she would consider coming back.
She noted that her daughter still regards Nigeria as her “happy place.”
For Adichie, that contrast has become part of the pain of losing her son — while Nigeria remains a source of identity and cherished memories for her family, it is also the country where she experienced an unimaginable personal tragedy.
“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.”