From Thursday, May 11 to Monday, May 15, Nigerian chef, Hilda Effiong Bassey, popularly known as Hilda Baci, headlined the African, nay global media with her bold attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the “longest cooking marathon by an individual”.
Her four-day cook-a-thon which turned the Amore Gardens, Lekki, into a Mecca for foodies, also created much buzz on social media – within the period, her Instagram page grew from 50k followers to 1.2M.
It was therefore, no surprise that Baci extended her kitchen stint to 100 hours after surpassing her initial 96-hour target and breaking the current world record holder, India’s Lata Tondon’s 87 hours 45 minutes record uninterrupted cooking in the process.
The attempt, which was one of the most publicised in history attracted congratulatory messages from former president Muhammadu Buhari, ex-VP Yemi Osinbajo, president Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Lagos State Governor Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and hosts of other bigwigs.
However, DAILY POST observed that two weeks after Hilda Baci’s famous attempt, the record body is yet to confirm her cooking 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 with the hope of receiving 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 berating 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 it turns out all submitted attempts take 12 weeks to review, so relax 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.”