Mysteries Naija Special: The Internet Made Her a Symbol

0:06 Welcome to Mysteries Night Dress Special. I'm your host, Esther. Today's episode is a special because it's not about true crime, but it's more of a media, psychology, Internet culture, celebrity narrative and public perception. I recently learned of a phenomenon called the individuation. It's what happens when people stop seeing someone as a person and start seeing them as a symbol. At first, the symbol people get celebrated. People project their hope, pride, and even national identity onto it. But becoming a symbol is a dangerous thing.

0:38 A few years ago, an entire country stopped to watch one woman cook. Not for an hour, not for a day, but for days. For 93 hours to be exact. And somehow, what began as a cooking challenge became something much bigger, a national obsession. This is the story of Hilda Bassey. Not a Crime Story, but a story about fame, pressure, virality, virality, identity, and what happens when the Internet decides to represent something bigger, something larger than yourself. Before we get into it, first disclaimer.

1:13 This episode discusses publicly known events surrounding media attention, Internet culture, and public controversies involving public figures. Information presented is based on publicly available interviews, articles, and documented media coverage available at the time of production. This episode is intended for informational and storytelling purposes only and does not seek to defame or misrepresent or misrepresent any individual or organization. Before the records, before the crowd, before social media turned her into a national symbol, there was simply Hilda Bassi, a young beautiful woman born in Kalabar but originally from Aquabong State.

1:53 She is the second of seven children, six siblings, in which the last three are triplets. She is the first daughter. At the time, she had about two or three siblings. Her mother was back in Kalabar with them. They grew up with the mother. The father tried his best according to her to provide for them but life wasn't easy. It was one of one of having needs instead of ones. So the uncle, one of her uncles visited one time. The mom was talking to the uncle and the uncle suggested why don't you go to Abuja, you could learn it, you could get a better paying job and that way you can take better care of your kids.

2:34 So the mom agreed. She liked the idea and the opportunity. So she moved to Abuja, she started to learn it. She couldn't stay long. Few months later, she ran back to Kalabar because she felt uncomfortable and unhappy being away from her children. So she came back to Kalabar and she took her children back to Abuja with her. He went back to Abuja, lived with the uncle who advised her mother to go to Abuja. They lived with the uncle for some time and then they moved out to their own place, a smaller place.

3:06 But the room, the space was really little and it wasn't good living. So they returned back to living with the uncle and the mom saved enough money and was able to find a comfortable apartment and they moved to the apartment. Early life was her formative years and her memories are about these, about her moving to Abuja with the mom and how the mom started getting into cooking. She herself didn't like cooking at all. But today she's a renowned and record-breaking chef. So let's start from the very beginning, how she got into cooking and how she ended up a world record-breaking chef for someone who did not even like cooking at all when she was really young, not sure of the exact age but young enough to understand.

3:54 One day she woke up to her mom cooking very early in the morning and the mom made lunch, packed some for herself to take to work. And when she got to work, she ate it. And some of her colleagues also tried the food because the mom said the food at the the workplace cafeteria was really bad. So the mom made her own lunch, took to work. So one of her colleagues tried it and they loved it in the ouster. Can you bring more tomorrow? So the next day she packed even more lunch for herself, enough to share with others.

4:24 And again, they loved it. And we're like, can you bring us our own portion? Can you bring us a serving? We're going to pay. We'll pay. So the mom came home, asked the kids to help her to make a larger portion. And she made over 20 portions, 20 servings to get to work to the colleagues and they loved it. And they kept asking her to bring it every day. So the mom started to make extra money on the side from selling these lunches to her colleagues at work. And eventually she found herself a spot. She found herself a spot to erect an umbrella and should have these, these food coolers and should have food in them and sell to people.

5:04 The mom found a spot that was close to the immigration office, which if you know about him, immigration office, people are always going there for visas and for passport, everything immigration related. So there are always people flocking in and out of there, plus the workers there, plus the security officers working there. So lots of customers. There were others as well who were selling at that same spot as her mom, but no one was supposed to sell there. So to do it right, the mom went to get permit to sell there, the others didn't.

5:37 So the others were chased away to not sell her anymore. But the mom had done the right thing of getting a permit, so she was allowed to keep selling at that spot. So now she's the only person selling food. And this is a place where lots of citizens and people come in and out for different kinds of businesses. So it was almost like picking money from a tree. She was in the right place at the right time. She made a lot of money and with that money she was able to send her kids to to comfortable, good schools, gave them a good life, send them to university, give them the kind of life that Avery mother works hard for.

6:17 Take care of her children and make sure to give them a good head start in life. Hilda said that the mom barely spent on herself, like splurged on herself. The first gold the mom owned, she bought it for her after she made money. But her first computer, everything provision. She grew up at school feeling like one of the rich kids. Not like rich, but the comfortable kids from middle from middle class homes. She grew up knowing that she had a good support system. Her family would always be there for her if she needed them, which she does.

6:53 So right after university, she heard of an audition at MTV base. She wanted to audition for the show for the program. She travelled from Abuja to Lagos, auditioned for it and eventually she didn't get the role. And she heard of Linda Cagey TV's audition as well. She wrote a script, hired a crew, filmed her audition. She was selected up until a few runner ups and then she lost. She didn't land the role but still that didn't deter her. She also heard of Inside House reality show and she auditioned for it as well.

7:32 She landed the role, got into the house, joined the show and while she was in the house she started to cook for everyone because she at this point she already knew what good food tasted like. She said one time her mother made a full pot of food, like full pot of soup for her customers. But when she tasted it, she realized the soup was a bit salty. There are different ways to remedy it. Like some people could throw in a potato if it's too salty, you know, throw in a potato to absorb the salt or add more vegetables to it or even water it down.

8:06 But for the soup she made is type of traditional soup that you make it as dry as possible. You don't want water in there. Most times we make the entire soup without adding any single water to it. And one of the ways to prove that you are a wife material real or your mother taught you how to cook really well. Most times people get tested with that soup. If you can make it and it's dry and nice and traditional, then it means you really know how to handle yourself in the kitchen. If you make it watery, then you still got a lot to learn.

8:39 The soup is called Edicanico and it's indigenous to my tribe, which is the same tribe as hers, the Abbos and the FX. So you can't water it down. And there's some meals that if you add potato to it, it could it affects the flavour of the meal. So the mom just trashed the entire soup because she wants to sell the best quality of food to her customers. She learned what good food tastes like. So she started cooking at the house. And naturally on reality shows like this, if there's one person that can cook well better than everyone else, everyone's just going to be happy to let that person cook.

9:18 So she actually is cooking for a lot of people. One time an owner of of a franchise or an organization called Breakfast King came to the house to speak and interact with them and they brought them some food. She had Moi Moi, which is beans, cake, steamed beans, cake. And she had it, She had her her feedback about the meal. So she woke up to the owner and said, oh, it's nice, but better could use a little bit of this for a little more of that or it's better this way or that way next time. This would be a better way to handle the batter and stuff like that.

9:55 The owner of the organization, the breakfast King, was so impressed that even after the show, anytime they they they made-up a new menu or a new recipe, he would consult her what she thought of it, her opinion and stuff. And eventually she got she auditioned for a slot on a platform called Pop Central TV. The structure of the platform was same as as Shark Tank. You know, you go there, you present your show to them and you tell them if you give me a slot, this is the show I will be presenting. People tune to their platform to watch your show, which in turn gives the show presenter visibility.

10:37 So Pub Central won't be paying you, the presenter, you're not making any money, but they'll give you a slot. You promote your own show, which they approve of, and that show gives you visibility because they're basically giving you a platform. She auditioned for for her own show. They called her, we're going to shoot a pilot run and if people like it, then we'll go ahead with it. So they shot a pilot run and people loved her show. So they gave her a slot on Sundays live from 4:30 to 5:30, a camera crew as well.

11:10 And that's when she started cooking in front of people. Prior to that, she just cooks at home, cooks for her friends. But now she had a platform where she was cooking and people were watching her cook, so I should cook her some teach people, talk people through how to make meals on a budget because the name of her show was dying on a budget. And she would invite celebrities over to join her on the show and they would ask her questions as she's cooking and to explain the process and the ingredients and everything to the audience.

11:43 Much better. And you have to keep them entertained so more celebrities would come on the show. She did that for over 2 years and then the show ended soon after her COVID hit. During that COVID, she's at home cooking for her family, cooking for her friends. And every time she would cook, her brother would come with his phone, would be taking videos of her cooking, post online, and the videos would be of him hyping her up, hyping her cooking taste, the quality of the food and all of that. And he would post it online and people started to watch her again.

12:15 Once COVID quarantine was up, she got herself a delivery bike so she had a delivery person who would deliver for her. So she started taking orders from her friends and from anyone who wanted to buy from her, should get orders as many orders as she could and should cook from morning till night, morning till night cooking so she could deliver the orders. She worked really, really hard, really hard. She is very ambitious, very hardworking. She tried acting, TV, presenting, entertainment, even auditioned for Big Brother Naija a couple of times, but she really needed a breakthrough.

12:56 But until then, she was going to try everything possible. After some time, she decided I have learned a lot on my own. No culinary training, nothing. All I know is what my mom taught me and what I've learned myself. It's time and I don't want to die with the knowledge I know I want to share with people because most of my recipes are my personal recipes and everything I know aren't things I was taught. I came up with them and I need to share this with people, otherwise it's going to go go with me.

13:24 So she set up an online clause and she was charging 50,000 per student when she told her brother about it. The same brother who's been supporting the business so far. The brother said what 50,000 naira for you just started gaining public attention come on that's too much whipped out his phone made a video price slash new price 15,000 naira and they got a lot of people sign up for the class even at 50,000. There were a lot of people who would have paid. But at this point she's still trying to gain her footing and find the right visibility for herself.

14:03 So the bridal cut it down to 15,000. They had the class and after the because she decided, you know what, I've got supporters. I know the recipe, I've got the resilience, the ambition. I think I want to try a cook a thon. She did some planning with family, friends and her team and the announcement was made. And then it was time. So in 2023, Hilda announced that she would attempt the Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual. The previous record before hers was 87 hours and 43 minutes, and she broke the record with hers at 93 hours, 11 minutes.

14:46 The setting was it was going to be a huge timer that shows the time counting real time. She had this kitchen that had ceiling to floor glass windows. So the fans and everyone gathered outside that wall. Everyone can see what she's doing at all time. Eyewitnesses plus timer count the time and people to confirm that she is indeed cooking the entire time. At first, it seemed like just another world record attempt, but Nigerians got involved and the atmosphere transformed completely. People gathered physically, celebrities arrived, politicians acknowledged her and the Internet exploded.

15:26 Suddenly it wasn't just healed up basic cooking anymore, it now became Nigeria versus the world. She started cooking. 6-7 hours later she has to take her first break. So she takes a break and that's when it hit her. Oh my God, I'm tired. I'm tired. Really, I'm barely started. So she called her mom, Mom, I'm tired. And mom was like, I know you can do it. I know you can do it. I I know you. I know you can do it. I just like, OK, thank you. She got her brother. Her brother was like, just say the word and walk out of here and never speak about it again.

16:04 But I have faith. I know you're capable. Worst case scenario, just try to make it 24 hours, you know, keep at it for 24 hours, at least 24 hours better than 7 hours, you know, just keep pushing a little more. And she, she was like, you're not listening. It's 7 hours. And I'm saying I'm already tired. Do you know how many hours is in 24 hours? But I said, I know you can do it. So she started praying to God for support and for strength and went back to cooking. And the fans are cheering her on. Her friends, her family, they're all there to support.

16:36 And the hours started counting and counting and counting. And some point she was close to giving up. But then it started to rain outside. It was raining heavily. The fans and supporters didn't leave. They stood in the rain and kept cheering her on. And that was when it hit her. I have to do this. These people believe in me. It's raining. She's in here worried about them. So feeling so bad that she made them all gather out there in the rain. But then they were happily cheering her on and encouraging her, telling her she can do it, a new reason to keep at it.

17:13 And she continued until she beat the last record she made. Lots of food. People were happy. But as it is, World Record isn't just waiting for you to turn on the timer so they can announce that you've won the record. So even after the cook a thon, the Nigerians herself all held their breath for the confirmation from world record that she did in fact break the record. And when she got the news, when the announcement hit the Internet that she broke the record, that was all you could hear on the Internet.

17:45 Nigerians were everywhere talking about how one of us broke the record. Oh my God, it was an achievement that every Nigerian felt like they had a part in. It was like all for one and one for all. But this is where the psychology becomes fascinating, because the Internet wasn't simply supporting a chef, it was projecting national pride onto her. The kukathon became emotional because people attached their own meanings to it. Success in Nigeria often feels collective. Just like I said, it was projecting national pride onto her for a period of time.

18:22 Hilda became the center of that feeling. Support flooded in from celebrities, politicians, brands, and even the Nigerians. The Internet crowned her. And once that happens, the pressure changes. There's a predictable cycle online, especially in Nigerian Internet culture, And the cycle goes as this Step one, Find someone inspiring. Step 2. Celebrate them intensely. Step 3. Overexpose them. Step 4. Become exhausted by their visibility. Step 5. Turn criticism into entertainment, and eventually people start looking for reasons to pull the symbol back down.

19:02 Some questioned the rules, the timing, the media coverage, the branding around the event. Others accused her of chasing clouds, commercializing the moment, being overexposed. And this is where the episode stops being about cooking and starts becoming about public psychology. One of the smartest things Hilda Basti later said, is that creatives are becoming obsessed with virality instead of sustainability. And ironically, her own story proves that point Perfect. Because virality creates attention.

19:35 But attention is unstable. It is very unstable. The same Internet that can emotionally elevate someone overnight, put you on a pedestal, crown you and be obsessed with you, can emotionally detach from you just as quickly as they got attached to you. And they can quickly forget that there's a human under the symbol. What gets lost in viral fame is humanity. People. Stop seeing you. Exhaustion. The pressure, the expectation. The anxiety. They just see content, a personality assembled. When she started her own restaurant, so many people would go to her restaurant, order food just to go online and complain about how expensive the meal was.

20:18 Or just to go online and complain how little the serving was. Or to go online and complain about how the taste wasn't so, so extraordinary. Every single time that she hosts online classes, people, mostly women wives, would sign up for her classes. Husbands would come online and announce that they are about to get fat because they signed up for their wives to join the class. Every single day of the class, she already publishes the ingredients you'll need. You make the meals alongside her It's life class.

20:54 You interact with her and at the end of the day, you've gotten yourself a nicely delicious meal. You've prepared together with her the families the husbands would try and that come online that come online. She is everything she thinks she is because her class. The meal my wife made alongside her from the class delicious. At times the husbands would come out and post online testifying to her skills. She taught my wife how to cook. I've never had more delicious meals in my life and these are from her students who learned from her class online.

21:28 So for you to say you went to a restaurant where she personally made you a plate of meal and you're saying it's just delicious? The nappy wasn't that special. Come on. After putting her on a pedestal, crowning her the queen of food, the queen of deliciousness, the culinary queen, self-taught self-made queen, and suddenly now you want to pull her right back? If you want to patronize her, why not? But you don't have to come tell the rest of the world, oh, I went there. The serving was so little, but she's strong, she's resilient.

22:01 Her story hasn't ended yet and hopefully it won't for a long time. 1 might ask, why does the story matter? This story matters because it's bigger than just Hilda Pasi. It reflects Nigerian Internet culture, celebrity construction, validation system, digital identity and even collective projection. The Cathan was never just about food, even the the jollof rice. Cooking the largest part of jollof rice again. She gathered people did it all over again, made a delicious meal, crowd formed, people enjoyed the meal and there were still people who came online and did the same thing again.

22:41 Oh, the food was not even that delicious. The rice wasn't cooked enough. Oh I can make better than this in my home. Oh even my teenage daughter can make way better than this. Oh I don't know what the hype is and blah blah blah blah blah they did it all over again. But if she were to announce another cook a thon those same people would come up and crown her all over again. I kind of imagine what that does to a person. The love hate type of relationship with the the public with your fan. This meaning they're loving me, their hyping you and they're saying the best absolute thing about you and the next minute that you need them to be there for you, they're all tearing you down.

23:18 Some of them are tearing you down. The Internet has changed fame. People no longer rise slowly they explode. And when someone explodes into visibility, the world starts building stories around them. Some truth, some exaggerated, some completely imagined. But underneath all of it, there's still a real person trying to exist under the weight of public expectation. And maybe that's the strangest part of stories like this. Not that someone becomes famous, but about how millions of people begin to act like they personally own a piece of that fame.

23:51 If you have thoughts on this case or the phenomenon of individuation, keep the conversation open. Leave your thoughts and opinions in the comment below. If you found this episode valuable, please share it, follow the podcast and support the series. Thank you so much for joining me today on Today's Mysteries Nature Special. Again, today's case wasn't about true crime, but about virality, Internet fame, and people's perceptions. Please don't let me know if there was any information about today's case that was defamatory or incorrect or misrepresented, miscommunicated.

24:25 Don't let me know what you think of the case. And don't let me know which case you want me to talk about next on our next Mystery NYCHA special. And I love you so much for joining me today. I will love you more if you join me in the next episode. And the next episode will be about a true crime case. Please stay safe, be your brother's keeper, live and let live. And please just let people have peace. Take care of yourself. And I'll stay in the next one.