African Voices Changemakers airs on CNN International Saturday 27th September 2025 at 13:30 WAT, 17:00 WAT
CITIZENS COMPASS—In the latest episode of African Voices Changemakers, CNN’s Larry Madowo joins Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on a trip back to her hometown of Nsukka in Anambra State, Southeastern Nigeria.
Madowo meets with Chimamanda during the promotional tour of her new book, ‘Dream Count’. Being back in her hometown and home country, Chimamanda reflects on the difference between belief and success in Africa, and in the US and Europe, “We sometimes think that when we achieve a certain kind of success, then somehow, we should water down ourselves. I’ve never believed that, I’ve always started with the premise that Nigerian characters are universal, … I’ve never felt the need to somehow change what I do because now people outside of Africa are reading me.”
The 47-year-old says her visit back to Nigeria was more than just a book tour, it was a homecoming celebration and chance to touch ground with those who influence her work. She continues to contribute to The University of Nigeria Secondary School because, as she says, “It gave me so much and it just feels to me sort of self-evident, you give back when you can. And things are just so difficult in Nigeria now and the school has trouble with funding and so I think in some ways it’s almost a responsibility for those of us who have left and who can help to help.”
Growing up surrounded by the enduring legacy of literary greats like Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda says it was fitting to pay homage to one of Africa’s greatest writers during the sixty-seventh anniversary of his novel ‘Things Fall Apart’. She tells Madowo, “I think ‘Things Fall Apart’ changed the world. I think that as Africans collectively we owe a huge debt of gratitude to that book for forcing the world to acknowledge what we’ve always known to be true, but they didn’t, which is our humanity and our complexity and the fact that pre-colonial African history was not a blank slate. That there was richness and beauty. Chinua Achebe, I think, was a genius, I do.” For nearly a decade, Chimamanda’s fiction was silent. The celebrated author, known for her searing portrayals of identity, womanhood, and war, was stuck in a place few expected, unable to write, and silently battling depression. She tells Madowo about her experience with this fight, “In those years I couldn’t write. And really not being able to write fiction when fiction is a thing that you deeply love, it’s just a terrible place to be. And so I did a number of things to try to distract myself … I did things like read the books I love. I read a lot more poetry in that period because I think poetry really helps with language and in the end, it’s just about waiting and hoping. You’re not in control of this thing.”
Her new novel ‘Dream Count’, her first work of fiction in 10 years, is not just a literary comeback, it’s a personal triumph, “I’m grateful that I finished it, finally. I’m grateful that it’s found its readers. Honestly, it’s kind of everything I hoped it would be.”
Chimamanda ends the episode with a reflection on the place and people who made her who she is, “I’ve always been moved by the possibility of human connection; that human beings who are different, we have this kind of connection because of a story. I’ve just loved hearing from my Nigerian readers. They’re always very fierce and say what they think, which I really appreciate.”
