Tragic death of Adichie's young son pushes Nigeria to act on health sector failings

A series of harrowing cases of allegations of medical negligence, including the death of novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 21-month-old son, has ignited a fierce debate about patient safety within Nigeria’s healthcare system.

Following the outcry, the health minister has admitted “systemic challenges” and announced the creation of a national task force on “clinical governance and patient safety” to improve the quality of care and patient safety.

The family of the internationally acclaimed author says her young son, Nkanu Nnamdi, died last week at a private hospital in the main city, Lagos, following a short illness.

They allege the child was denied oxygen and excessively sedated, leading to cardiac arrest.

The hospital extended its “deepest sympathies” but in a statement denied any wrongdoing, stating its treatment met international standards.

The Lagos State Government has ordered an investigation into the death, as public outrage spread over the state of healthcare in Africa’s most populous country.

Just days later, anger surged once more after the death of Aisha Umar, a mother of five who ran a business from home, selling incense and fish in the northern city of Kano.

Her family alleges a pair of surgical scissors was left inside her abdomen during an operation in September at the state-run Abubakar Imam Urology Centre, leading to four months of severe pain and her eventual death.

“For four months, they only gave her pain relievers,” her brother-in-law, Abubakar Mohammed, told the BBC.

“Scans finally showed the scissors were inside her,” he said.

The family says they plan to sue the facility for negligence.

The Kano State Hospitals Management Board said it had “suspended three personnel directly involved in the case from clinical activities with immediate effect”, and has referred the case for further investigation and disciplinary action.

“The Board reassures the public that it will not condone negligence in any form and will continue to take decisive actions to safeguard the lives, dignity, and trust of patients across all state health facilities,” a spokesman added in a statement issued on 13 January.

These high-profile cases have given voice to widespread grievances that often go unheard.

Lagos-based products manager Josephine Obi, 29, recounted how her father died in 2021 at the state-run Lagos University Teaching Hospital after what she says was a surgical error during a routine procedure for a goitre – a lump or swelling at the front of the neck caused by a swollen thyroid.

“They cut a major artery… it was a very minor surgery,” Obi told the BBC.

She said a supervising doctor apologised, admitting a mistake had been made.

The family chose not to sue to avoid a potentially costly and protracted legal battle.

“You will just waste money and the case will linger… we just let it go,” Obi said.

The BBC sent an email to the hospital seeking comment, but has not yet received a response. The BBC also phoned the numbers listed on the hospital’s website, but they failed to go through.

In Kano, prison facility officer Abdullahi Umar is still mourning his wife, Ummu Kulthum Tukur, who died three years ago at the age of 27 after giving birth to twins at the state-run Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital.

He believes a timely Caesarean section would have saved her life.

“She was in labour for over 24 hours… she lost a lot of blood and died,” he said, adding that the hospital still refuses to provide a death certificate.

Efforts to get the hospital to respond were unsuccessful as the spokesperson Hauwa Inuwa told the BBC she was on leave, instead sending the number of another member of staff, which did not work.

Joe Abah, a former boss of Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Service Reforms, claimed on social media platform X how a private hospital in the capital, Abuja, urged him to undergo immediate surgery for an ailment. Unconvinced, he sought further opinions, including consultations abroad, which concluded no surgery was necessary, he said.

Complaints about treatment in Nigeria’s private hospitals are rare, although that is where Adichie’s son was treated. They generally have a better reputation than government-owned hospitals, but only a minority can afford to go to them.

“Private hospitals are out of the reach of many Nigerians because they are expensive but without doubt offer better care compared to government-owned hospitals which carry more load and have manpower and equipment issues,” Dr Fatima Gaya, who works at a public hospital, told the BBC.

Many wealthy Nigerians also go abroad for treatment, including President Bola Tinubu and his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, who died in a clinic in London in 2025 after he stepped down from office.

Dr Mohammad Usman Suleiman, president of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (Nard), told the BBC that the issues were “systemic” and that blaming individuals without addressing the wider problems, such as a lack of doctors and equipment, was futile.

“Clinical governance needs to be stepped up. In Nigeria, what we have is individuals being blamed for a systemic problem,” Suleiman told the BBC.

“If you take six to seven surgeries… eventually, you are exhausted. No doctor wakes up wanting to harm someone.”

These concerns are supported by data.

Two separate surveys last year – from the African Research Journal of Medical Sciences and NOIPolls – found that around 43% of Nigerians had personally experienced or witnessed a medical error or near-miss. About a third of patients experienced additional injuries from treatment.

Medics and analysts say Nigeria has a very low doctor-patient ratio, worsened by a massive “brain drain” as health professionals emigrate after being enticed by better working conditions abroad.

Remaining health workers sometimes juggle multiple jobs and often go on strike to demand higher salaries, and improved conditions.

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) says about 15,000 doctors have left the country in the past five years.

Its president, Dr Bala Audu, estimates the ratio is now one doctor to 8,000 patients, far lower than the recommended rate of 1: 600.

“An imbalance of over 8,000 patients to one doctor increases overload and stress, which leads to mistakes,” public affairs analyst Ibrahim Saidu told the BBC.

Nigeria’s health system is buckling under these pressures, Saidu added.

Chronic underfunding sees the federal government allocate only about 5% of its budget to health, far below the 15% target set in 2001 by the African Union to improve medical services across the continent.

Announcing the creation of the national health task force, Health Minister Muhammed Ali Pate acknowledged in a statement that “Nigeria’s healthcare system faces systemic challenges” in delivering consistent quality care and ensuring patient safety.

“The quality deficits are observed at all levels (public and private) with reports of frequent misdiagnoses, inadequate provider-patient interaction, and lack of care continuity,” he said.

The minister added that “the high rates of preventable medical errors, lack of accountability mechanisms, fragmented service delivery, and limited workforce capacity” had led to calls for stronger national oversight.

The task force will oversee, monitor and drive efforts to integrate quality and patient safety into all areas of healthcare delivery nationwide. It will operate for an initial period of 12 months, with the option of a renewal.

While this will be welcomed by many Nigerians, they will want to see the results in the country’s clinics and hospitals before they can be convinced that no other patients will become tragic symbols of a national crisis.