Renowned author, Chimamanda Adichie, has accused a Lagos-based hospital over the death of her 21-month-old son, Nkanu, alleging medical negligence.

According to her team, the message was initially shared privately with close family members and friends before becoming public.

In the statement, Adichie said her son fell ill while the family was in Lagos for the Christmas holidays. What initially appeared to be a mild cold, she explained, quickly developed into a severe infection, leading to his admission at Atlantis Hospital.

She said plans were already in place for Nkanu to be flown to the United States on January 7, accompanied by travelling doctors, where a medical team at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore was prepared to receive him.

As part of preparations for the journey, doctors requested diagnostic procedures, including an MRI scan and a lumbar puncture, as well as the insertion of a central line. Atlantis Hospital subsequently referred the family to Euracare Hospital, which was recommended for carrying out the procedures.

Adichie recounted that on the morning of January 6, her son was taken to Euracare Hospital and sedated to enable the MRI and central line placement.

While waiting outside the operating theatre, she said she noticed medical staff rushing in, signalling that something had gone wrong.

She was later informed that Nkanu had been administered an excessive dose of the sedative propofol by the anesthesiologist, became unresponsive, and had to be resuscitated.

According to the statement, the child was subsequently placed on a ventilator and admitted to the intensive care unit, where he later suffered seizures and cardiac arrest. He died hours later.

“I saw people, including Dr. M, rushing into the theatre and immediately knew something had happened,” she said.

Adichie recounted that she was later informed her son had been administered an excessive dose of propofol by the anesthesiologist, causing him to become unresponsive.

Although she was told he was resuscitated, Nkanu was subsequently placed on a ventilator, intubated and moved to the Intensive Care Unit.

She said the situation rapidly worsened.

“The next thing I heard was that he had seizures. Cardiac arrest. All these had never happened before,” Adichie stated, adding that her son died a few hours later.

The author alleged that Nkanu was not properly monitored after being sedated and that the anesthesiologist carried him into the theatre without adequate supervision, making it unclear when he became unresponsive.

“How can you sedate a sick child and neglect to monitor him?” she asked.

She further alleged that after the central line procedure, the anesthesiologist switched off her son’s oxygen and carried him to the ICU without following proper medical protocol.

Describing the incident as criminal negligence, Adichie accused the anesthesiologist of being “fatally casual and careless with the precious life of a child.”

“We brought in a child who was unwell but stable and scheduled to travel the next day,” she said. “We came to conduct basic procedures. And suddenly, our beautiful little boy was gone forever.”

Adichie also claimed that the family has since learned of at least two previous cases in which the same anesthesiologist allegedly overdosed children, raising questions about why he was allowed to continue practising.

“Why did Euracare allow him to keep working?” she asked. “This must never happen to another child.”

Celebrated author, Chimamanda Adichie, says her unwavering support for presidential hopeful, Peter Obi, stems from her belief in his “selfless leadership” and “commitment” to Nigeria.

Distinguishing Obi from many of his political peers, Adichie, in an exclusive interview on Channels Television’s Amazing Africans, described him as a man who is not driven by ego or desperation for power.

“He (Obi) doesn’t need to be president. He wants to be because he cares about Nigeria, but he doesn’t need to be. And that is a very important distinction. There are people who are desperate to become president, not because they have any good intentions for the country, but because of their egos,” she said.

The award-winning author noted that her support for Obi is “rooted in my love for this country” and in the belief that with the right leader, “we can be better than we are.”

The writer added that Obi’s values, humility, and accountability to the people make him stand out.

“Peter Obi is not a person who expects you to thank him for doing his job as a leader, because to him it’s his job. There’s a sense, I think, in Peter Obi that he’s accountable to the people. He doesn’t think that somehow he will lord it over people,” she said.

Reflecting on their long-standing relationship, Adichie described Obi as “one of the simplest men I have ever known,” adding, “the person I knew 15 years ago is still the same in terms of his values. He is genuine, consistent, and curious—qualities that I believe are essential in a leader.”

She also noted that “I don’t want to talk in specifics about how I will feel if he’s not the presidential candidate. I don’t want to think about that yet because we don’t know what will happen.”

The celebrated writer was a prominent supporter of Obi during Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election.

Her endorsement, made through social media posts, a birthday tribute, and an official video, drew widespread attention. In her 2022 tribute, she referred to him as “my big bro” and expressed confidence in his vision for the country.

Following the outcome of the 2023 election, where Obi came third behind President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adichie penned an open letter to U.S. President Joe Biden.

In it, she criticised the credibility of the polls and cautioned against recognising what she called a deeply flawed process. Her presence at the Presidential Election Tribunal in Abuja further highlighted her support for the Labour Party candidate.

By Vivian Ihechu

Nigerian-born and award-winning writer, Chimamanda Adichie, has called for more African stories to help preserve the continent’s heritage, history and development.

According to her, stories are integral to development as they encompass the total essence of a people and their worldview, saying they impact positively, psychology, education, politics and more.

Adichie spoke at the launch of CANEX Book Factory and Prize for Publishing in Africa, held during the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) Summit on Thursday, at the hybrid Intra African Trade Fair 2023 held in Cairo, Egypt, from Nov. 9 to Nov. 15.

She said: “We need more stories on this continent because we need to reclaim our histories. We need stories because stories are very much a part of development.

“Our continent has so often been sidelined and maligned, and while there has been some change, there is still altogether too much patronising and too much pity directed at this continent.

“And it must be said that there are also a few Africans who by their actions, enable the state of affairs.

“If we reclaim our histories, it will give us the confidence that comes from knowing who we are, we need more stories so that we can turn our myths into memory.”

According to her, today, African children go to elite boarding schools in different parts of the world, and they learn about Greek mythology.

“But what is the difference between Persephone, the Greek goddess of planting seeds, and Ala, the Igbo Goddess of land?

“It is only that one story has been told well, and the other story has not,” she said.

Adichie said telling more African stories would give the people and continent more confidence and dignity in their heritage, shaping politics and perception.

“There is a clear psychological component to development, a nation without a strong sense of itself, a strong psychological sense of itself, cannot thrive.

“Stories can take away dignity and stories can also restore dignity. Stories shape politics and perception.

“I cannot tell you how many times I have been told by people in different parts of the world, that after reading my novels, they started to see Nigeria differently,” she said.

Adichie advised that children be exposed to reading storybooks as it would help improve their cognitive abilities and communication skills.

“We need more African literature because no matter what your discipline is, reading well-written imaginative writing will teach you how to think in creative and complex ways and we need to start early with our children.

“When children read storybooks consistently, they’re learning without even knowing that they’re learning. Their vocabulary, their communication skills and their thinking abilities are all improving.

“We need more stories so that future generations of Africans will find it hilarious that there was indeed a time when Africans went to school to learn that an European discovered Victoria Falls and an European discovered River Niger, even though Africans have been living there for generations.

“I’m reminded of a conversation I once had with a Nigerian who was complaining that a European had said that Africans have built so few skyscrapers in Africa.

“And this Nigerian then went on to argue, that no, there are skyscrapers in Nigeria and skyscrapers in South Africa.

“And what I was struck by was, it seems to me that the problem was that, we have somehow accepted that skyscrapers should be the basis on which to measure our growth.

“Sometimes it feels to me that even our aspirations as Africans, are shaped by others.

“Stories can give us the confidence to own our aspirations and to become more confident in our storytelling,” said Adichie.

However, she advised that Africans should not have a certain kind of defensiveness in how they approach storytelling, rather they should have proactiveness to do more stories on the continent to reclaim Africa’s unique and rich histories.

According to her, the idea of a nation is about stories.

“A nation is not geography. A nation is psychology. A continent is psychology. And so we need stories to know ourselves,” Adichie advised.