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.