Now that’s a pot of rice. How much does it hold? Almost 20,000 pounds! (That’s enough to feed about 60,000 people each a one-half cup serving!)

In September, Nigerian chef Hilda Baci won the Guinness World Record for making the largest pot ever of jollof rice. (Jollof rice is cooked in pepper sauce. It’s a staple food in West Africa.)

“It took nine hours of fire, passion, and teamwork,” the chef says. Hundreds of onlookers showed up to cheer on Chef Baci. But before they could take a bite of the rice mountain, the rice had to be weighed. During the weighing, the huge pot collapsed under the crane lifting it. And no wonder. The rice weighed about as much as a large RV!

This isn’t Chef Baci’s first Guinness Record. In 2023, she won a marathon cooking challenge. She cooked for 93 hours and 11 minutes straight. 

Irish chef Alan Fisher broke that record about six months later. But Chef Baci had started something. Since then, many young West Africans try to set Guinness Records. 

Nigerians seem particularly interested in snagging Guinness titles—and not just food-related ones. Who can cry the longest? Read aloud the longest? Crochet the longest? Stay inside the longest? Do the most skips on one leg in one minute? Fry the most snails? (Okay, that’s food-related . . . if you eat snails!)

So why have Nigerians gone gaga for Guinness? People have some guesses. Nigerians have a reputation for being competitive. They also live in a nation where rulers don’t always win elections fairly. Is it possible Nigerians like Guinness because only those who follow the rules have a chance of winning? 

People in Nigeria also struggle to find jobs. Guinness winners don’t get paid. But sometimes they get famous like Chef Baci did. 

Why? People love to compete—but it’s most fun when they compete according to the rules that serve everyone fairly.