Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has said the death of her young son has fundamentally altered her feelings toward her home country, stating she no longer wants to return to Nigeria.
In an interview with The New York Times, Adichie was asked whether Nigeria still felt close to her heart.
“My feelings toward Nigeria have changed,” she said. “I do not want to go back to Nigeria.”
Her 21-month-old son, Nkanu, one of her twin boys, died in December 2025 after a medical emergency at Euracare hospital in Nigeria.
Adichie recounted that the child developed a fever and was placed on antibiotics by her husband, Ivara Esege. When his condition did not improve, they took him to hospital. During an MRI examination he was sedated with propofol, suffered cardiac arrest and died the following day.
She recalled a doctor approaching her afterwards in a state of panic.
“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,” Adichie said.
The author had previously raised public allegations of medical negligence regarding her son’s treatment. A coroner’s inquest into the circumstances of Nkanu’s death is ongoing, amid reported delays and disagreements between the family and the hospital.
Euracare has accused Adichie and her husband of destroying evidence by cremating their son’s remains, an allegation linked to the proceedings. The couple have called for improvements in Nigeria’s healthcare system but have not filed a lawsuit against the hospital.
Adichie said her remaining children might be the only reason she would consider returning, noting that her daughter still sees Nigeria as her “happy place.”
Before the tragedy, she said Nigeria had been deeply tied to her identity and writing, the place that gave her “everything” that made her a writer. The loss has changed that bond.
“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.”
