Women and girls make up half the world’s population and if their potentials are harnessed, it could help transform the society. Yet, their voices, experiences, and contributions are overlooked or undervalued.
According to foodprenuer, Hilda Effiong Bassey professionally known as Hilda Baci, ‘we live in a world where women tend to underestimate what they can do or achieve in life.’
This has to change, Baci told LEADERSHIP WEEKEND, even as she had put herself in the public domain, for other young Nigerian women to follow.
Today, Baci, a 27 year old graduate of Sociology from Madonna University, Okija, who hails from Akwa Ibom state, is a restaurant owner, a content creator, a presenter, an actress, a chef and a teacher.
In May, 2023, Baci will be adding to her crown of success when she breaks the Guinness Book of Record, by becoming the first woman in Africa to cook for the longest hours.
Recall that Lata Tandon, the current world record holder, is an Indian chef from Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, who cooked nonstop for 87 hours and 45 minutes, breaking the previous record by 20 hours.
Baci is determined to break that record by cooking for four days and nights for a total of 97 hours at Amore Gardens in Lagos.
She will be cooking over 100 dishes including jollof rice, yam porridge, plantain porridge, egusi soup, afang soup, eforiro and pancakes, among others.
But why did Baci want to deprive herself of four sleepless nights? She said: “People tend to underestimate what young people are capable of doing. I am putting myself out there to inspire young women that they can do great things and they can be resilient. Going for this contest will further inspire young people that if I, Baci can follow my dream, they too can follow theirs.
“I am also doing this to push FoodBHilda Restaurant, to the highest height. I am trying to build a business that is sustainable, to expand my business and get investors to invest in it. I am trying to build a household name and those who have succeeded in doing that have had to do incredible things.
“In my field, one of the incredible things I can do is to put my name in the Guinness Book of Record. This will also make people to take me as a content creator more seriously.”
As a way to give back to the society, Baci said, she will be feeding 400 Nigerians per day, adding that, she has invited Slum2School and other organisations to attend the contest.
Motivation
On what inspires Baci to cook, she said, the excitement on the faces of the people who eat her food inspires her. “I love to hear people’s feedback on my food. I always have this zeal to cater for the needs of people.
“My mother also inspired me. My mother owns a small restaurant and she used to put in a lot of efforts in the food she cooks. I have seen her thrown away a pot of soup just because it has too much salt, or the vegetables used was not fresh enough. All she cared about was her customers. I carried that with me even till date.”
Baci has not kept the knowledge of cookery to herself, as she has been able to train over 5,000 women and girls. “I have occasional cooking classes where I teach people online. I am very intentional about making sure that people understand what I am doing. So I go as far as incentivizing my students. I have trained over 5,000 women and girls in the last one year and six months. It has been a very wholesome experience for me,” she averred
Looking at the future, Baci said, she wants to retire at 40 years. By that time, she dreams of having a chain of restaurants. “I also have the dream of training a lot of young women, who in turn would nurture others on cookery,” she stated.
Advice to young women
To her, “there was a time things wasn’t going well for Baci, as she was not able to figured her part in life. “However, comstant prayers to God helped me. My mother made it a prayer point and God answered her prayer. So prayer is the key, to opening new doors.
“Also, it is important that you face your front. Don’t look at what you have not done or what you have not achieved yet. You have to be consistent in what you do. Give God something to bless. Just start, don’t procrastinate. You can’t sit down and wait for everything to be perfect. If you have an andriod phone, and you want to be a content creator, start with it. Don’t forget that you can achieve anything you put your mind to do. You have the head for anything,” she advised.
Career and Education
Hilda Effiong Bassey, also known as Hilda Baci, is a multi-talented Foodprenuer renowned for her amazing homemade tasty recipes. Hilda is also a TV Producer, Actress, and Presenter. A graduate of Sociology from Madonna University, Okija, she is the founder of ‘My Food by Hilda,’ an excellent restaurant and delivery service for African and continental dishes.
Her mother’s culinary techniques influenced Hilda’s foray into catering before establishing ‘My Food’ with her brother as a student. She extended her skills to Television, starting with the cooking segment, In my Kitchen, on Rave TV’s breakfast show, Morning Rave. She was also the host of ‘Dine on A Budget’ on Pop Central TV, where she engaged celebrities on topical issues and treated them to a good dining experience.
Before her show ‘Dine on a Budget,’ she worked as the lunch division manager at Breaking King (a breakfast company), where she gained experience running a culinary business.
She started MyFoodbyHilda in February 2020 from a tiny apartment in Ikate, where she prepared food in bowls for various clients during the lockdown, increasing her customer base online and offline. She affirmed her cooking talent further when she represented Nigeria at the Jollof Faceoff Competition in 2021, emerging as the winner and providing more drive for her entrepreneurial vision.
She was also a recipient of the Starz Awards personality of the Year. The hard work paid off as her first premium fast food restaurant was launched in June 2022 and has since catered to an incredible number of clients.
Hilda is a humanitarian who encourages and empowers other talents through her culinary journey; Hilda has trained over 2,500 students giving prizes and incentives to the best-performing students. She believes that everyone deserves well-prepared meals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she provided over 3,000 meals to less privileged communities for social impact.
