Nigeria’s Season of Guiness World Records

They say most great inventions usually start off as outrageous ideas. Well, Guinness World Records (GWR) is no different. Rumour has it that the GWR, the ultimate authority on record-breaking achievements, started out as an idea to solve arguments in bars. You know how it is. A couple of guys get so drunk, so pissed, […]

They say most great inventions usually start off as outrageous ideas.

Well, Guinness World Records (GWR) is no different. Rumour has it that the GWR, the ultimate authority on record-breaking achievements, started out as an idea to solve arguments in bars.

You know how it is. A couple of guys get so drunk, so pissed, they start arguing about who is the fastest man that ever lived or the richest person on earth or the man who had the most amount of wives.

The idea came about in the early 1950’s when Sir Hugh Beaver, Managing Director of the Guinness Brewery, attended a shooting party in County Wexford. There, he, and his hosts argued about the fastest game bird in Europe and failed to find an answer in any reference book. In 1954, recalling his shooting party argument, Sir Hugh had the idea for a fact book based on the idea of settling bar arguments and invited the twins Norris and Ross McWhirter who were fact-finding researchers from Fleet Street to compile a book of facts and figures.

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Guinness Superlatives was incorporated on 30th November and the office opened in two rooms in a converted gymnasium on the top floor of Ludgate House, 107 Fleet Street. After an initial research phase, work began on writing the book, which took 13 and a half 90-hour weeks, (a record in itself) including weekends and bank holidays. Little did the McWhirters know that taking shape was a book that would go on to become an all-time best seller and one of the most recognized and trusted brands in the world.

Today, Guinness World Records is a global brand, with offices in London, New York, Beijing, Tokyo and Dubai, with brand ambassadors and adjudicators on the ground around the world.

As a child, when it was still called Guinness Book of Records, we were fascinated by it. It was a large book, almost like an atlas that contained people doing bizarre things all around the world and holding the records for them. Longest nails. Longest hair. Tallest human. Longest kiss. Longest chewing gum. Etc. This book of facts would entertain us for hours as my friends and I would pour ourselves into it,  marvelling at the beautiful pictures of people around the world who could embark on such daring feats. Growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, that book was gold!

But then the internet came and robbed it off its shine.

History has it that the first Nigerian to get the Guinness world record was a man called David Dafinone from Sapele, Delta state. He was born on March 12, 1926 and until his death was a Nigerian politician and a well-known accountant. According to reports, Dafinone is the first Nigerian ever to get a Guinness world record in 1999 for having the highest numbers of chartered accountants in a family. His 5 children, 3 sons, and 2 daughters are all chartered accountants. They all qualified as members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in The United Kingdom between 1986 to 1999.

I am sure that record has since been broken, many times over. What with all our overzealous quest for degrees.

Since then, many more Nigerians have been featured in GWR for breaking amazing records. Fela Kuti, Steven Keshi, Wizkid, Bose Omolayo, Haruna Abdulazeez, Peter Aho, Bayo Omoboriowo, Vincent Okezie and many others. So far, a total of forty-three (43) Nigerians have made it to the GWR. An amazing feat.

However, until Hilda Baci’s widely publicized brave attempt, many Nigerians had forgotten about the GWR. Or maybe we were too busy surviving this country. Now that I think about it, I think Nigerians ought to receive GWR for living through the Buhari Administration and now Emperor Tinubu’s rule. The fact that we are able to survive this hardship and still have enough stamina to break various world records is an achievement on its own. Let us clap for ourselves Jare.

This year, Nigerians decided to revisit our former sport and rekindle old relationships.

In January 2023, a Nigerian student, Philip Solomon, was declared as the Guinness World Record holder for most skips on one foot in 30 seconds. GWR in a statement on its website said the most skips in 30 seconds on one foot is 153 and was achieved by Solomon in Akure, Nigeria on January 24, 2023. In doing this, the 17-year-old student in Ondo State broke the previous record of 145 set by Rasel Islam of Bangladesh.

Then in May, Hilda Baci, a Chef achieved world fame by breaking GWR for the longest cook-a-thon. The 27-year-old Nigerian chef began on Thursday, May 11, and continued to Monday, May 15, 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.

Impressive, right?

Unfortunately, now that the virus has caught on, there has been an outbreak.

Last month, Nigerian chef, Adeparusi Damilola, also known as Chef Dammy embarked on a 120-hour cook-a-thon in Oye Local Government Area of Ekiti State. Needless to say, it was a disaster from the start. She was ill-prepared and lacked professionalism.

As if that was not enough, Adeyeye Adeola, another talented Nigerian chef, embarked on yet  another remarkable culinary journey to set a new Guinness World Record for a cooking marathon. Her cook-a-thon began on Friday, June 30, 2023, in the Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State and was scheduled to conclude on Thursday, July 6, 2023. She was aiming for 150 hours!

Any update, please? I am too exhausted to check.

I also heard that Nigerian comedian Woli Arole, is set to lead a 5,000 pray-a-thon and is targeting the Guinness World Records. Leave it to Nigerians to make a mockery of everything.

At this juncture, the question begs to be asked: What exactly is the motive?

According to the Guinness World Records official website, they do not provide cash prize or a monetary payout to those who set or break records. Instead, the organisation “offers the prestige of being a record holder, a certificate of achievement, and the potential for global recognition”. I suppose in this era of view and followers, influencer brands and promotions, this fame does translate to money.

The beauty of GWR is its ability to celebrate dreams.

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who was raised on a farm near Iowa’s smallest town of Beaconsfield, dreamt of becoming one of the most successful astronauts in American history. She’s spent a total of 665 days in space, the most time away from Earth by any person and the most time in space by a woman from any country. At 56, she’s the oldest female astronaut and the first female commander of an International Space Station mission. And she’s completed the most spacewalks by a woman, among other feats.

Five decades ago, Whitson was an Iowa farm girl fascinated by science. As a 9-year-old in 1969, she saw Neil Armstrong walk on the moon, one of her most vivid memories as a child. Today she holds the GWR for the oldest female astronaut. Throughout her long-term career Peggy has put her doctorate in biochemistry to good use, and is an incredible example of iconic women in science.

We will continue to dream big.

Because like Osinbanjo said, we are Nigerians and so, we can do anything.