Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has revealed that the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu, has changed her feelings towards Nigeria, saying she no longer wants to return to the country.
Adichie made the disclosure in an interview with The New York Times, where she discussed the loss of her son and how the circumstances surrounding his death have affected her relationship with Nigeria.
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.
According to Adichie, her son initially developed a fever and was placed on antibiotics by her husband, Ivara Esege.
She said that when his condition failed to improve, they took him to hospital for further medical examination.
Adichie said Nkanu was subsequently sedated with propofol during an MRI scan, after which he suffered cardiac arrest and died the following day.
Recalling what happened after the procedure, the author said a doctor approached her in a panicked state and attributed the incident to the amount of propofol administered to her son.
“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 alleged that medical negligence contributed to her son’s death and raised concerns about the treatment he received at the hospital.
Her latest comments highlight the profound impact of the loss on her personal relationship with Nigeria and come amid her continuing efforts to process the circumstances surrounding her son’s death.
