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In an interview with The New York Times published on September 11, 2026, award-winning Nigerian-American author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie stated that the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu Nnamdi, on January 7, 2026, has fundamentally changed how she feels about Nigeria.
She stated that her children, particularly her daughter, who calls Nigeria her happy place, remain the reason the family will go back.
“My feelings toward Nigeria have changed. I do not want to go back to Nigeria.” But when pressed on whether she would ever return, she stated, referring to her children. “They’re the reason we’re going.”
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is one of Nigeria’s most celebrated authors, known globally for Americanah, Half of a Yellow Sun, and We Should All Be Feminists. She is both Nigerian and American, maintaining homes in Lagos and Maryland, and has long described Nigeria as central to her identity and writing. She stated in the interview: “Nigeria gave me everything I needed to be able to write.”
Nkanu developed a fever during the family’s Christmas holiday in Nigeria in December 2025. His father, Dr. Ivara Esege, placed him on antibiotics, but his condition did not improve. The family took him to Euracare Multi-Specialist Hospital in Lagos for an MRI, during which he was sedated with propofol. He suffered cardiac arrest and died the following day, January 7, 2026.
Adichie recalled a doctor telling her after the procedure: “Well, look, they gave him too much Propofol. Those were his exact words, which I will never forget until the day I die.”
A coroner’s inquest into Nkanu’s death is ongoing but has been stalled by legal disputes. Euracare challenged aspects of the proceedings in the Lagos State High Court and accused Adichie and her husband of destroying evidence by cremating their son’s body before the inquest commenced.
Chimamanda states the incident has led to “grief in her body, in her stomach and chest,” and how exhausting it is every single day. But she cannot fully express it because she has other children to care for.
“Sometimes my son doesn’t want me to hold him because I’m so weepy. He’s 2. So I really try. It feels like the full manifestation of my grief is impossible because of the condition of being a mother,” she said.
She, however, states that despite the incident, Nigeria gave her the information to enrich her storytelling; her children love the country, and it is why they would continually to visit the nation.
