From Thursday, May 11 to Monday, May 15, Nigerian chef Hilda Effiong Bassey, also known as Hilda Baci, captured the attention of African and worldwide media with her daring effort to break the Guinness World Record for the “longest cooking marathon by an individual.”
Her four-day cook-a-thon, which transformed the Amore Gardens in Lekki into a gastronomic Mecca, also generated a lot of attention on social media, with her Instagram profile growing from 50k to 1.2M followers in just a few days.
Baci’s kitchen stint was therefore extended to 100 hours after exceeding her initial 96-hour aim and shattering the existing world record holder, India’s Lata Tondon’s 87 hours 45 minutes record continuous cooking in the process.
The attempt, which was widely publicized, drew words of congratulations from former President Muhammadu Buhari, ex-VP Yemi Osinbajo, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and a slew of other notables.
However, two weeks after Hilda Baci’s legendary attempt, the record organization has yet to validate her culinary record.
On May 16, a Guinness Book of Records spokesperson said, “We are aware of the record attempt and are looking forward to receiving the evidence for our Records Management Team to review before we can confirm the record is official.”
But two weeks down the line, the record body is yet to confirm Hilda Baci’s record.
The Nigerian chef recently complained about the delay via Instastory, lamenting that she has been refreshing her email every second, hoping to receive GWR’s certification email since she submitted all evidence.
Expressing anxiety over the situation, the Akwa Ibom-born chef wrote, “Not me refreshing my email every second since we submitted all the evidence to Guinness World Records.”
Nigerian dancer and World Guinness Record holder, Kafayat Oluwatoyin Shafau, better known as Kaffy, had earlier predicted that the record body may delay verifying Hilda Baci’s attempt.
Kaffy, who set the Guinness World Record for “Longest Dance Party” in 2006, said it took almost two weeks for GWR to confirm her feat.
Similarly, Lata Tondon who Hilda is seeking to displace, said during an Instagram live session in mid-May that it took two months before her record was confirmed and a certificate was presented to her by Guinness World Records.
The delay in confirming Hilda Baci’s record has elicited uproar on social media with many criticizing the Guinness World Record over the situation.
See some of the Twitter comments below;
@King William: “I honestly don’t understand why they’re taking so long. How hard can it be to tell your workers to watch a video? I mean, humans consume so much television these days so how hard can it be?”
@Luckyai: “I got pissed at some point, even went to their page to gather evidence of foul play against them. But all submitted attempts take 12 weeks to review, so relax for 11 more weeks to go. Hopefully, they’ll cut it short.”
@HenryEm: “@hildabacicooks hundreds of people witnessed it. At first, my thought was you not breaking the record but something changed and I knew you’d make it. Crazy 9ja people were there to celebrate & cheer you up. That was your strength so I tell you now, that mail go come @GWR please.”
@Miraculous Sound: “Am not too sure you properly involved the Guinness World Record or carried them along, before going out for this challenge, if not why the sluggishness in feedback? Congratulations tho, your effort it’s really amazing.”
