In May 2023, Hilda Baci made history when she cooked for 100 straight hours, breaking the Guinness World Record for longest cooking marathon. While her subsequent rise to fame was expected, the real shocker was the ripple effect her record-breaking feat created in Nigeria.
Suddenly, record attempts started springing up all over the country. Some ambitious, some downright silly. These multiple attempts almost made it seem like Guinness world records were a walk in the park, but in reality, more than 50% of submissions are rejected, and nobody’s cashing out big time from them either.
Now in 2025, Hilda’s back, aiming to set another record, but this time for the biggest pot of jollof rice ever cooked. And honestly, what better moment to run through some of the most notable Nigerians who’ve joined the Guinness World Records club since her headline-making cookathon?
1. Helen Williams
- Record: Longest handmade wig
- Achievement: 351.28 metres long
- Date: July 7, 2023
- Location: Abule-Egba, Lagos, Nigeria
- Age at the time: 31
- Do they still hold the record? Yes (as of September 2025)
Helen Williams is proof that you can break the Guinness World Record for literally anything. Putting her skills as a professional wig maker to good use, she broke the record for longest handmade wig, which spans over 351 meters. (For context, the Eiffel tower in Paris is 330 meters tal2.l)
2.Tonye Solomon
- Record: Most steps climbed on a ladder while balancing a football on the head
- Achievement: 150 steps
- Date: August 10, 2023
- Location: Yenagoa, Bayelsa, Nigeria
- Age at the time: 28
- Do they still hold the record? Yes (as of September 2025)
30-year-old Nigerian footballer Tonye Solomon smashed the world record by climbing a 250-foot radio mast with a football balanced on his head, completing the climb in just 12 minutes. He said he spent two nonstop months training to make it happen.
3. Chancellor Ahaghotu
- Record: Longest painting marathon
- Achievement: Total of 100 hours
- Date: October 30, 2023
- Location: Atlanta, United States
- Age at the time: 19
- Do they still hold the record? Yes (as of September 2025)
In 2024, Ahaghotu, an art student, performed the world’s longest painting marathon ever in 100 hours, exceeding the previous record by 40 hours and breaking a decade old record. As a Nigerian artist living in the US, Chancellor believed that the record would boost his career both home and abroad.
4. Chukwuebuka Ezugha
- Record: Most football touches with the abdomen in one minute
- Achievement: 152 touches
- Date: November 11, 2023
- Location: Ikot-Ekpene, Nigeria
- Age at the time: 28
- Do they still hold the record? Yes (as of September 2025)
While freestyle football often favours fancy footwork, Chukwuebuka Ezugha took a different route, he juggled a football with his abdomen. In December 2023, he achieved 152 touches in one minute, earning a spot as a Guinness world record holder.
5. Chidima Modupe Okafor
- Record: Longest marathon crocheting
- Achievement: 72 hours long marathon
- Date: December 27, 2023
- Location: Lagos, Nigeria
- Age at the time: 30
- Do they still hold the record? Yes (as of September 2025)
Chidimma set the world record for crocheting at 36 hours, then thought to herself, ‘Double it and give it to the next person,’ creating a new record of 72 hours. As someone who has been crocheting all her life, Chidimma revealed that her decision to embark on this feat stemmed from her lifelong passion for the craft and a desire to push her mental limits.
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6. Philip Solomon
- Record: Most skips on one foot in 30 seconds
- Achievement: 153 skips
- Date: September 12, 2024
- Location: Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria
- Age at the time: 17
- Do they still hold the record? Yes (as of September 2025)
At just 17 years old, Philip Solomon set a world record by completing 153 skips on one foot in 30 seconds. For context, most people would struggle to reach 100 skips using both feet, but Philip achieved far more while balancing on just one.
7. Ololade Ayelabola
- Record: Longest distance walked on a catwalk by a model
- Achievement: Total of 125.11 km
- Date: October 01, 2024
- Location: Lagos, Nigeria
- Age at the time: 26
- Do they still hold the record? Yes (as of September 2025)
When we thought Nigerians could not get any more creative with their choice of records to break, Ololade said,”Hold my cup.” In October 2024, the University of Lagos graduate walked her way into history by setting the world record for the longest catwalk on a runway. To put this in perspective, that is roughly the driving distance from Lagos to Ibadan.
8. Mighty George
- Record: Longest marathon hosting a radio talk show
- Achievement: 105 hours
- Date: April 27, 2025
- Location: Uyo, Akwa-ibom, Nigeria
- Age at the time: 40
- Do they still hold the record? Yes (as of September 2025)
Radio host and Nigerian broadcaster, George “Mighty George” Essien probably thought long and hard about how to mark his 20 years behind the mic and interestingly settled on this jaw dropping challenge: a 105-hour talk-show marathon, which earned him a Guinness world record. He’d basically practiced his whole life for this.
9. Joshua Olusanya
- Record: Longest marathon playing the trumpet
- Achievement: Total of 25 hours 30 minutes
- Date: May 09, 2025
- Location: Terra Kulture, Nigeria
- Age at the time: 30
- Do they still hold the record? Yes (as of September 2025)
While instrumentalists are known to thrive on long practice hours, Joshua Olusanya took it to the next level when he set a world record by playing the trumpet for 25 hours and 30 minutes straight in Lagos in May 2025.
10. Tunde Onakoya
- Record: Longest chess marathon
- Achievement: Non stop chess for 64 hours
- Date: April 17, 2025
- Location: New York, United States
- Age at the time: 30
- Do they still hold the record? Yes (as of September 2025)
Earlier this year, Tunde broke the world record for longest chess marathon. This came exactly a year after an unsuccessful attempt to break the same record. The 2024 attempt was however successful in raising $100,000 for his non-profit, Chess in Slums Africa—a charity initiative dedicated to using chess to empower children in slum communities. For this new record, the goal was 70 hours but he settled on 64, a nod to the total number of squares on the chess board.
