Entertainment
Don’t make it a competition – Indian Record holder tells Nigerians after Hilda Baci’s cook-a-thon feat
Since news broke on Monday May 15, 2023 about a Nigerian cook, Hilda Baci cooking for over 100 hours to break and set a new world record, many Nigerians have asked Guinness to announce her as the new record holder.
If she is eventually awarded, Ms Baci will join the league of other Nigerians like Gbenga Ezekiel, Rema, Bose Omolayo, Bayo Omoboriowo, Dance Queen Kaffy, foremost accountant David Dafinone, Comedian and filmmaker AY, who have held Guinness records in different fields.
Ms Baci started her race for the title of the longest cooking marathon by an individual on Thursday, 11th of May.
She initially targeted cooking for 96 hours straight but extended it to 100 hours, about 12 hours ahead of the previous record holder.
In the four days of cook-a-thon, Baci became the toast of Nigerians, cooking over 100 dishes during her marathon, including delicacies like jollof rice, egusi soup, and fufu.
However, since achieving the feat, some Nigerians have visited the Instagram page of the current title holder, Chef Lata Tondon, to drop some unsavoury comments.
In 2019, Ms Tondon, an Indian, cooked for 87 hours and 45 minutes, 20 hours more than the previous winner, making her the first woman to achieve the feat.
Reacting to the comments of Nigerians on her Instagram photos, London called for peace, noting that it was just a record.
“A humble request to my sisters and brothers in Nigeria and India to maintain peace and wait to announce if the current record is broken or not officially. Please don’t make it a competition. It’s just a record, my friends. I am a peace-loving person and wish the same for you,” she wrote on her Insta-stories.
No love lost
In a quick reaction to her appeal, more Nigerians have continued to visit her page to express their love and appreciation for the title holder.
Some, however, pointed out that they meant no harm, and her perception of their comments as unfavourable might be out of a difference in cultural nuances.
Fadeysextoys, for instance, noted GOAT means Greatest of all Time, and not necessarily a reference to the four-legged livestock often used to connote stupidity.
“GOAT means greatest of all time. Do not talk about it offensively, please. We love you, ma’am,” she wrote.
Guinness record
As Nigerians continue to wait for the official confirmation of the Jollof Queen as the record holder, Guinness has said they need time to verify and review the evidence.
Guinness World Records, formerly The Guinness Book of Records, is a British reference book published annually.
Instituted in 1955, it is a listing of world records both of human achievements and the extremes of the natural world.
The body said that officials on its records team look forward to reviewing the evidence and hope to be able to verify Hilda’s efforts as a new record very soon.Nigerian Jollof, Queen Hilda Baci
“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,” a Guinness World Records spokesperson tweeted.
The application process for the Guinness World Records is in stages.
The first stage requires Guinness to review the record contender’s proposal against its extensive record database.
Having been accepted, the individual is then sent a set of record guidelines and an information pack detailing the rules for the record and the evidence required.
Generally, the duration for the standard application takes up to 12 weeks, but priority application can be granted within five working days at the cost of $1,000 for new titles.
Accolades
Despite not being officially announced as the Guinness record holder, the 27-year-old is already receiving her flowers.
In addition to the governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-olu visiting the location of the cook-a-thon to cheer her on, she also received a phone call from the Vice President of Nigeria.
Celebrities, too, were not left out as they thronged the venue of the cookout.
Meanwhile, brands have started to celebrate the feat achieved by Ms Baci.
Vesti App, a fintech, has announced an all-expense paid trip to the Maldives this summer for “the phenomenal @hildabaci of @myfoodbyhilda on her daring and record-breaking attempt at the #Guinness world record at 27 years for the longest number of hours a chef has cooked.”
Following suit, indigenous airline company Dana Air has supported Baci’s Guinness World Record attempt with one year of free tickets for all her domestic travels.
Her mum, a chef too, also gets three months of free flights.
Not left out, insurance company AXA Mansard supports Chef Baci with a one-year Gold Health Insurance.
“We trust this can strengthen you more in pursuing this world record for yourself, millions of women you inspire every day, and our dear country,” the company tweeted.
Iconic Nigerian singer Peter Okoye has responded to allegations made by his twin brother Paul over ownership of a new song “Winning.”
Peter Okoye shared a detailed account of the song’s creation, clarifying his role and collaboration with others, including Ghanaian producer Vampire and songwriter Calypso.
He questioned Paul’s claims, citing their agreed-upon creative process and Paul’s removal of his (Peter’s) vocals from joint songs.
Peter also addressed his temporary break from music, stating he took time to recharge before returning with “Winning.”
He wrote on X: “If you have followed my journey as a solo artiste and even before, you will notice that I give people their due credit where necessary as I am a firm believer in teamwork; I know my strengths, where I need assistance or guidance I am not afraid to ask or work with those who are strong in the areas I am not; this includes the process of creating music, executing concepts and ideas etc. I will always credit people for their contributions to my projects.
“Sometime in June 2022, I stumbled upon a producer based in Ghana named Vampire, and my team and I also personally reached out to him via DM, that I liked his work and was interested in working with him. Before getting him to Lagos, I presented the idea of this producer to my twin brother and our team, getting their buy-in before I got him flight tickets and flew him to Lagos.“
It was when he got into Lagos I asked if he would be open to working on P-SQUARE’s next album project, that the 5 songs I had penned down from my end to be presented to our A&R team for the album project were: JAIYE, WINNING, FIND SOMEBODY, LEGENDARY, and ATTENTION, based on tracks he had produced.
“We started with my own 5 songs that needed to be submitted for PSQUARE’s album, which he produced for me: The idea for WINNING came from one of his beats that I discovered. I came up with the idea of changing the chord progression from the original version to what it is today with my own producer Goldswarm who is the co-producer of the song WINNING.
“I had also engaged a songwriter known as CALYPSO who wrote and composed the song WINNING and sent it to me on the beats through a voice note. And we started working on the song. Mind you, he worked on some other songs that were to make the album as well, so my brother was aware of his input to the production as we were all in the studio during this period.
“Then when my twin brother heard the song WINNING, which we had already created the hook/chorus for, he then wanted to start creating a verse. Our agreed-on process for each song presented by us was: arrange the song, leave a verse for the other person, then we both harmonise the chorus and refrain bits together. He wasn’t supposed to until Calypso and I finished it as part of my own song submission to the LEGENDARY ALBUM.
“After that, we finished and shared verses among ourselves. I do not wish to get into details of why the album didn’t see the light of day till date but it takes a different level of psychosis for one to steal what is theirs already; as since the release of this song, I have been labeled and called all sorts online and they have even gone as far as asking for the song to be taken down on various platforms, to what end?
“It was never part of his 5, now 6 (according to him) songs for submission, yet when he felt I was not interested in making music because I chose my sanity over the constant berating and drama that seemed to come up over creative direction in the group.
“If it were his song, why do I have all the music data including initial conversations and picture/video evidence on the above-mentioned titles/songs? Which of his songs do I have its data in my possession in that case? All because he was hoping for me to quit music. Even when I learnt that he had removed my vocals on songs we did together, suggesting that he sing the entire songs including the ones that he planned to present for the album without my input (a very absurd idea as we both make up the duo not just the one), but we both perform them on stage, I begun to have a rethink of the entire situation. Let me leave this here.
“Maybe because I was not posting anything music-related on my social media page for over 4 months. He believes I have lost interest in music. I took a breather to get my mind and head in the right space and when that was done, my epiphany was WINNING!”.
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