One of Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s toddler twin sons has died, her family has confirmed.
In a statement issued on behalf of the family by Omawumi Ogbe, it was announced that Nkanu Nnamdi, aged 21 months, died on Wednesday following a brief illness. He was one of the twin boys Adichie shares with her husband, Dr Ivara Esege.
The family said they were “devastated by this profound loss” and expressed gratitude to those who have offered condolences, while requesting privacy and prayers as they mourn.
Adichie, an award-winning Nigerian writer based in the United States, is internationally renowned for novels such as Half of a Yellow Sun and Americanah, as well as her influential 2012 TED Talk and essay We Should All Be Feminists, later sampled by Beyoncé in her 2013 song Flawless. Her work, widely regarded as central to postcolonial feminist literature, explores themes of gender, identity and immigration.
In 2015, she was named among Time magazine’s 100 most influential people. She welcomed her first child, a daughter, in 2016, and in 2024 her twin sons were born via a surrogate.
Tributes have continued to pour in, including from Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who described the loss as immeasurable.
“No grief is as devastating as losing a child,” the president said, adding that he sympathised with the family during this difficult time.
Adichie’s literary achievements include Half of a Yellow Sun being voted in 2020 as the best novel to have won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in the award’s 25-year history.
Speaking to the BBC last year during the release of her novel Dream Count, Adichie reflected on the challenges she faced with writer’s block while pregnant with her first child, describing the experience as “terrifying” because writing gives her life meaning.
In a 2022 BBC Reith Lecture on freedom of speech, Adichie also warned that fear of asking the “wrong questions” among young people could stifle curiosity, learning and creativity, stressing that “no human endeavour requires freedom as much as creativity does.”
