Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has said the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu, has changed how she feels about Nigeria.In a deeply personal interview, the award-winning writer said she no longer feels the same emotional connection to the country she once called home.
Asked whether Nigeria still felt close to her heart, Adichie gave a blunt answer.“My feelings toward Nigeria have changed,” she said. “I do not want to go back to Nigeria.”
The statement comes months after the death of Nkanu, one of her twin sons.
The child died in December 2025 after a medical emergency at Euracare in Nigeria.
According to Adichie, Nkanu first developed a fever and was placed on antibiotics.
When his condition did not improve, the family took him to the hospital for further examination.
She said the boy was later sedated with propofol during an MRI examination.
Adichie recalled that he subsequently suffered cardiac arrest and died the following day. She also recounted an exchange with a doctor after the procedure.
According to her account, the doctor told her that the child had received too much propofol.
The circumstances surrounding Nkanu’s death have since become the subject of a coroner’s inquest.
Adichie had earlier raised allegations of medical negligence over the treatment her son received.
The hospital has disputed aspects of the family’s account, and the matter remains before the relevant process.
For Adichie, however, the issue now goes beyond the legal proceedings.
Her words reveal the personal cost that grief, anger and a loss of confidence in a system can exact on someone who once had a deep attachment to Nigeria.
The writer’s decision not to return home is therefore more than a statement about travel.It is a painful reflection on what happens when a person’s relationship with a country becomes entangled with the worst moment of their life.
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ValidViewNetwork reports that Adichie’s comments have reopened a wider conversation about trust in Nigeria’s healthcare system, accountability when things go wrong and the confidence Nigerians place in institutions meant to protect life.
For a country that routinely loses citizens abroad and at home to preventable failures, her words carry a question that extends beyond one grieving family: what makes citizens believe that the system will protect them when they are most vulnerable?
