Award-winning Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has said she no longer wants to return to Nigeria following the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu, describing the tragedy as a turning point in her relationship with a country she had long regarded as home.
Adichie made the disclosure in an interview with The New York Times, as she and her husband, Ivara Esege, continue to pursue accountability over the circumstances surrounding their son’s death in Lagos.
Nkanu died on January 6 following complications during a medical procedure at Euracare Multi-Specialist Hospital in Lagos.
Adichie had previously accused the hospital of negligence, prompting Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to order an investigation.
The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria later announced an initial finding of negligence involving three doctors connected to the child’s care. One of the doctors, who worked at Atlantis Pediatric Hospital where Nkanu was initially treated, was subsequently cleared.
The case is also before a Lagos coroner’s court, although proceedings have been adjourned amid continuing legal arguments.
What happened to Nkanu
According to Adichie’s account, Nkanu fell ill while the family was in Lagos for the Christmas holidays in December.
What initially appeared to be a cold progressed into a fever and worsening illness. Esege, a retired family physician, began treating the child with antibiotics, but there was no significant improvement by New Year’s Day.
The couple then took Nkanu to a children’s hospital after Esege became concerned that he could have Kawasaki disease, a serious condition capable of causing severe complications.
Esege contacted Johns Hopkins Hospital in the United States, close to the family’s home in Maryland. The hospital agreed to admit Nkanu but required a brain MRI before an air ambulance could transport him.
The family subsequently took him to Euracare in Lagos for the scan.
Propofol and the medical emergency
Nkanu was sedated with Propofol to keep him still during the MRI.
Adichie told The New York Times that she was waiting outside when she noticed a doctor rushing into the catheterisation laboratory, leaving her alarmed.
She said Euracare’s medical director, Tosin Majekodunmi, later approached her and explained what had happened.
“He was very calm, and he said to me, ‘Well, look, they gave him too much Propofol,’” Adichie recalled.
The family said the excessive anaesthetic resulted in cardiac arrest.
While Adichie briefly left the hospital to arrange documentation and financial matters for the proposed air ambulance, Esege reviewed medical reports prepared for the transfer team.
According to the interview, he found that Nkanu had a zero score on the coma scale and fixed, dilated pupils and asked his wife to return to the hospital.
Medical staff continued efforts to resuscitate the child for several hours before he was pronounced dead at about 8 a.m. on January 6.
Family seeks accountability
For Adichie and Esege, the legal proceedings are not primarily about financial compensation.
The couple said they want the circumstances surrounding Nkanu’s death properly established and hope the case ultimately contributes to improvements in Nigeria’s healthcare system.
“That’s the only thing we can try and do just to help,” Esege said. “Hopefully, someone else will not have to go through this.”
The family’s lawyers have raised concerns over delays in the proceedings, while the hospital’s legal team has also questioned the parents’ decision to cremate their son.
Adichie criticised the approach, describing it as a “monstrous, cynical game” being played with the family’s grief.
‘I do not want to go back to Nigeria’
The tragedy has also altered Adichie’s emotional connection to Nigeria.
For decades, the author’s work has examined Nigerian identity, migration, belonging and the meaning of home. In her 2013 novel Americanah, she described Nigeria as a place where she could “sink my roots in without the constant urge to tug them out.”
That sense of belonging, she now says, has changed.
“I do not want to go back to Nigeria,” Adichie told The New York Times.
Her 10-year-old daughter, however, continues to regard Nigeria as her “happy place”.
The family is also navigating the loss with Nkanu’s surviving twin brother, who is still too young to fully understand his brother’s death. Adichie said the boy continues to tell people that his twin brother is still in Lagos.
For an author whose work has repeatedly explored what it means to leave Nigeria, return and find a sense of belonging, the loss has made those questions deeply personal.
“My feelings toward Nigeria have changed,” she said.
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