President Muhammadu Buhari praised the remarkable achievement of Hilda Bassey Effiong, a talented gourmet chef known as Hilda Baci, who has made history by breaking the world record for the longest hours of cooking.
Her extraordinary feat has not only earned her a well-deserved place in the prestigious Guinness Book of Records but has also shone a spotlight on Nigeria on the international stage.
Baci cooked for 100 hours non-stop between May 11 and 15, 2023, to beat the record of 87 hours, 45 minutes and 00 seconds set by Chef Lata London, in Rewa, India in 2019.
The Cook-a-Thon took place at Amore Gardens, Lekki, Lagos. It will be recalled that Vanguard On-Line first broke, on April 21, the story that Hilda Baci was to embark on the four days Cook-a-Thon journey.
In preparation for the competition, Hilda had a successful 24-hour dry run from April 12-13. She also partnered a fitness trainer and nutritionist to lose some weight and adjust her diet.
She and her team had designed over 100 recipes to be served at the event open to the public through registration.
Reiterating the essence of the Cook-a-Thon, Hilda Baci said it was an inspirational platform for young people.
”The goal of the Cook-a-Thon is to inspire every young girl about the possibility of achieving their dreams. This is why I am setting an example with this attempt. The victory of the Cook-a-Thon is a win for young women across the continent in breaking barriers, and the capacity to impact.
For the records, Hilda Baci is a young Nigerian chef from Akwa Ibom State. She owns a food brand in Lagos called ‘My Food by Hilda’.
She cooked for four days non-stop. She must stand to cook; she was not permitted to sit throughout the cooking period. She was not allowed to take coffee, stimulants, or any energy drink to artificially boost her energy and bodily strength while cooking.
She was allowed to eat food, drink water or fruit juice, and take glucose. The cooking took place at Amore Gardens, Lekki, Lagos State, Nigeria.
She cooked round the clock; not sleeping (morning, afternoon, evening and night).
She has just five minutes rest per hour [meaning for every one hour, she is entitled to just five minutes rest or break, that’s an hour break in every 12 hours.
She gets a 30-minute break every six hours, she spends the 30mins in a medical van which is just close by, within which she can nap, use the restroom, and also get a medical assessment or checkup by the medical team available on the spot.
Whatever she cooked was shared to the people at the venue for free.
She cooked different meals simultaneously. She was at liberty to cook any meal she liked. There were no restrictions as to what she could cook or not to cook. The World Record title is about cooking within a time frame, not about what is cooked. As long as she is cooking, she is on track.
Every meal cooked and every plate served was recorded. She cooked over 115 meals so far with almost 3,000 portions if not more by the time you are reading this.
She started the cooking on Thursday and was expected to complete the target time frame by May 15, 2023, evening.
To break the record, Hilda Baci was attempting to cook for 96 hours, using extra nine hours to break the world record as the first human on earth to spend such an amount of time cooking a marathon but she ended up cooking for 100 hours. She tagged the cooking project “Cook-a-thon”, a phrase literally coined from the word “marathon”
She appeared exhausted already, but the people around her are cheering her on to boost her morale. And they are available with her as she cook 24/7, even at night.
Most of the food items, ingredients, utensils, etc she used for this project were provided by her sponsors. So, the money expended on this project was not 100 percent from Hilda or her Food brand.
Uber, one of her partners offered a 40 percent discounted ride to the venue for people who wished to join and cheer her up at the venue.
Hilda’s mum is also a chef. She owns a food brand called “Calabar Pot”
In his commendation, President Buhari lauded the young culinary expert for turning her talent and passion into a career, with a rippling effect on the economy as she runs a restaurant in Lagos, and trains other talents on entrepreneurship, and now leads the world in resilience, perseverance, and consistency in cooking.
The President, according to a statement by his Spokesman, Femi Adesina, noted the antecedents of the restaurateur, who he said dazzled at the Jollof Face-off Competition, 2021, preparing mouth-watering 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.
President Buhari wished Hilda Baci more grace for a prosperous career.
In his response, the outgoing governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, praised Miss Hilda Baci for her passion and determination to break the Guinness World record for the longest cooking marathon.
Meanwhile, the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, has also congratulated Nigerian chef, Hilda Baci, for breaking the world record in cooking marathon.
In a statement by his Special Adviser, Media, Ola Awoniyi, Lawan who noted that Baci’s feat is a reminder to the entire world that Nigerians are talented and are capable of exelling in any endeavour, said, “I celebrate Hilda Baci for breaking Guinness World record in ‘longest cooking time.’
“You have made us proud by again showing to the entire world that we have all it takes to excel in any task we set our hands on.”
Emmanuel in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ekerete Udoh specially commended Baci for being resilient and for representing the best attributes.
Also speaking, Lead Project Coordinator, Hilda Cook-a-thon, Nowe Isibor Segun-Ojo said, ”The Hilda Cook-a-thon was a ground-breaking project geared at making an impact and providing growth opportunities.
“We have set a new narrative and bringing something refreshing to Africa. We appreciate all our sponsors who have made this project possible”.
