Nigerian Chef Hilda Baci Earns Third Guinness Record

Imagine checking your email over morning coffee and discovering you've held a world record for five months without knowing it.

That's exactly what happened to Nigerian celebrity chef Hilda Baci this week. The Guinness World Records team sent her a surprise email explaining that her September 2025 achievement had actually earned her two titles instead of one.

Baci and her team prepared 8,780 kilograms of jollof rice at a Lagos cookout, shattering the record for the largest serving of Nigerian-style jollof rice. But when Guinness officials compared their record guidelines, they realized she'd also broken the record for the largest serving of rice overall, any style.

"I was shocked and happy at the same time, completely caught off guard," Baci shared on Instagram, updating her bio to read "Chef X3 Guinness World Record Holder." She'd been scrolling through routine emails when she spotted the message from Andrew Fanning, Head of Client Partnering at Guinness World Records.

The achievement makes Baci Nigeria's first chef to hold three Guinness World Records. Her first came in May 2023 when she completed a grueling 93-hour, 11-minute cooking marathon that captivated the nation.

Baci credited her close collaborator Oreoluwa Atinmo as the first person she called with the news. "This journey, this vision, and this record would not have been possible without her," she explained. "We did this together, from idea to execution, side by side."

Why This Inspires

Baci's story shows how aiming high can lead to achievements beyond what you imagined. She set out to celebrate Nigerian cuisine on the world stage and ended up making history twice in a single day.

Her jollof rice record does more than fill a spot in the record books. It puts Nigerian cuisine in the global spotlight, proving that cultural pride and culinary excellence can break barriers. The fact that she discovered the double achievement five months later adds a reminder that sometimes our impact reaches further than we realize.

The chef's response to the surprise shows her grounded perspective. "God is faithful," she reflected. "Even when you think you've seen the full picture, God can still say, 'There's more.'"

Baci's journey from her first marathon cooking session to becoming a three-time record holder demonstrates what dedication to craft can accomplish. She's turned her passion for cooking into a platform that celebrates Nigerian culture while inspiring others to dream bigger.

Her team's effort to prepare nearly 20,000 pounds of jollof rice required meticulous planning, countless long days, and attention to detail that paid off in ways they couldn't have predicted.

Now Baci enters 2026 with three world records and a powerful message: sometimes the best surprises come when you're just doing your usual routine.

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