Award-winning Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, has revealed that the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu, has drastically changed her feelings towards Nigeria.
Adichie made the disclosure in an interview with The New York Times, where she spoke emotionally 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 celebrated 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 following a medical emergency at Euracare Hospital in Lagos.
According to Adichie, her son initially developed a fever and was placed on antibiotics by her husband, Ivara Esege. When his condition did not improve, the family took him to the hospital for further medical examination.
She said Nkanu was subsequently sedated with propofol during an MRI examination and later suffered cardiac arrest.
Recounting the incident, Adichie said a doctor subsequently approached her and 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 circumstances surrounding Nkanu’s death have become the subject of a coroner’s inquest in Lagos. Adichie and her husband have raised allegations of medical negligence concerning the treatment their son received.
However, the allegations remain part of an ongoing dispute and proceedings, and no final judicial determination has established liability against the hospital.
Adichie said that before her son’s death, Nigeria remained deeply connected to her identity and career as a writer. She described the country as the place that gave her “everything” that helped shape her life and writing.
But the loss of her son has altered that relationship.
The author also suggested that her decision does not necessarily mean she would never return to Nigeria under any circumstance.
She said her children could influence such a decision, noting that her daughter still considers Nigeria her “happy place”.
Reflecting on the tragedy, Adichie said the experience remained difficult for her to comprehend.
“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.”
