New Telegraph Admin 
She bounced into limelight when she emerged the Nigerian Jollof Queen in 2021, outcooking other contestants from Ghana and other West African countries. Her feat ended the debate of whose Jollof is better, Ghana or Nigeria? In 2023, Hilda Bassey, popularly known as Hilda Baci brokr the Guiness World Record for cooking for a straight 100 hours by her accounts but the GWR on Monday certified her record by shaving off 7 hours from her record but awarded her the prize at 93 hours.
Finally, after weeks of waiting Hilda got her prize and her name etched in global records. Hilda is the now the new record holder for the longest cooking marathon (individual), after reviewing all footage of the exercise. The 26-year-old Nigerian chef began on Thursday, 11 May, and continued to Monday, 15 May, cooking over 100 pots of food during her four-day kitchen stint.
Following a thorough review of all the evidence, GWR said the celebrity chef has officially broken the record for the longest cooking marathon (individual), with a time of 93 hours 11 minutes. The record was previously held by Lata Tondon, an Indian chef, with 87 hours, 45 minutes in India in 2019.
But that is not all for Hilda. On Thursday, the GWR reposted their Monday tweet where they confirmed Hilda as the new record holder for the longest cooking marathon, saying it was its “best performing tweet of all time.” “Yeah, so this is our best performing tweet of all time with nearly 25 million news feeds reached,” the GWR wrote on the tweet.
The GWR, had in a post on its official website on Tuesday, revealed that its website crashed for two days due to immense volume of traffic caused by Hilda’s legion of loyal fans. “Hilda’s record attempt took the world of social media by storm, with millions in Nigeria and beyond following her progress via an Instagram live stream,” the GWR noted in the post where it reported Hilda’s award for the world’s longest cooking marathon.
“Hilda’s cook-a-thon was in fact so popular that our website crashed for two days due to the immense volume of traffic we received from her legion of loyal fans,” it said. Although the Guiness Book of Records had previously said it was investigating the procedure and process, there was no doubt in Nigerians that another citizens has put the country on the global stage in a very positive light.
Former President Mohammadu Buhari and Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, presidential candidates, politicians to millions of Nigerians and the corporate community, all gushed at the unusual achievement, anchored on hardwork, tenacity and determination. Whether Guiness Book of Records likes it or not, Baci has broken the record in the eyes of Nigerians.
Thus, nobody waited for confirmation before the country stood still for an Amazon-record maker. Baci started her career as a chef in 2020 with her brand as @Myfoodbyhilda. She embarked on a journey to break the Guinness World Record for longest cooking marathon on May 11 at Amore Gardens Lekki, Lagos Nigeria and ended it on May 14 .
Baci surpassed the current world record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual with 100 hours, to break the Guinness World Record for longest cooking hours. The show was live streamed on multiple social media channels where she made over 250 recipes. Buhari said he shared the joy of celebrations of Baci.
The President, in a statement by his spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina, on Monday in Abuja, noted the antecedents of the restaurateur, who dazzled at the Jollof Face-off Competition, 2021. He lauded her for preparing mouthwatering dishes that won the choice prize, and settled an age-long rivalry with Ghana on which African country should own the trademark for cooking better jollof- rice.
