The Guinness World Records says Hilda’s cook-a-thon was so popular that its website crashed for two days due to the immense volume of traffic it received from her legion of loyal fans!
The world body stated this in its assessment and final award of the recognition to Hilda Baci on Tuesday.
The formal recognition of Hilda by GWR has since sent social media abuzz with excitement as the passionate chef has been announced the new record holder for the longest cooking marathon (individual).
The Nigerian chef had, on May 15, surpassed her 96-hour target and achieved a 100-hour record time at the cook-a-thon competition that took place at the Amore Gardens, Lekki in Lagos.
Hilda and many Nigerians who follow her on social media had eagerly waited for an official announcement of her championship by GWR, having completed 100-hours of uninterrupted cooking.
However, GWR eventually reviewed the official time to 93 hours 11 minutes, as against the 100h ours that Hilda had claimed.
With the announcement today, the Lagos-based chef has displaced the former world record holder, Lata Tondon, an Indian chef who achieved the feat in 2019 with 87 hours 45 minutes record of uninterrupted cooking.
Excited by the announcement, many Nigerians took to their social media accounts to congratulate Hilda for achieving the feat.
Meanwhile, another chef in Ekiti, Damilola Adeparusi had, since June 9, taken up the gauntlet at a time Hilda was still awaiting the result of the Guinness World Record’s review.
The move by Chef Dammy has continued to generate mixed reactions among Nigerians as some saw the timing of her move as wrong, since Hilda had yet to be officially acknowledged; while others saw nothing wrong with her action.
Meanwhile, below are some of the congratulatory tweets for Hilda:
THIS RIGHT HERE IS MASSIVE, BIG CONGRATULATIONS TO HILDA BACI
WHAT SHE DID WASN’T AN EASY FEAT AT ALL. AND THE WAY NIGERIANS CAME OUT EN MASSE BOTH ONLINE AND ON-GROUND TO SUPPORT HER WAS SO INSPIRING!
MAJOR W! 🌟
— ISEUNIFE THE FIRST (@SHAWNIFEE) JUNE 13, 2023
CONGRATULATIONS HILDA
CONGRATULATIONS HILDA
CONGRATULATIONS HILDA
CONGRATULATIONS HILDA
💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃
CONGRATULATIONS HILDA
CONGRATULATIONS HILDA
CONGRATULATIONS HILDA
CONGRATULATIONS HILDA
— SALLY SULEIMAN (@IS_SALSU) JUNE 13, 2023
I WILL BLAME DAMMY’S COOK-A-THON ATTEMPT ON @GWR; THERE SHOULD BE A LAW OR RULE THAT MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR ANYONE TO ATTEMPT BREAKING A PARTICULAR RECORD IF THEY ARE CURRENTLY REVIEWING AN ATTEMPT.
CONGRATULATIONS TO HILDA BACI, AND MORE WINS TO THOSE EATING FREE FOOD IN… PIC.TWITTER.COM/DOQCELCUE8
— TEETALK 🔰 (@OBAJEMUJNR_) JUNE 13, 2023
Some people see it as Nigerians’way of supporting one another:
WE CAN DO ANYTHING FOR OUR OWN 😂 PIC.TWITTER.COM/D2ZJSPOSCG
— BABA IBEJI (@MARAPOLSA) JUNE 13, 2023
DAMN, IF NIGERIANS SUPPORT YOU, FORGET IT 😂 CONGRATULATIONS HILDA🎉. PIC.TWITTER.COM/HUXLAKW2TQ
— DEV.TOBS🇳🇬🇺🇸|MDSC. EMCDS. (@DEVTOBS) JUNE 13, 2023
There were cynics, such as this one:
WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG? YOU WERE RECONFIGURING YOUR BVAS?
— ENITURN (@ENITURN) JUNE 13, 2023
Not to forget Cheff Dammy:
SO THE EKITI GIRL JUST DEY WASTE HER TIME? CAUSE EVEN HILDA THAT DID A LOT OF PR AND FOLLOWED RULE HAD IT CUT DOWN TO 93 HOURS AND 11 MINUTES. IT’S NO EASY TO BREAK GWR AT ALL. CONGRATULATIONS TO HILDA BACI.
— ABIODUN A. ADELEKE👨🏽💻 (@IAMABIODUNAA) JUNE 13, 2023