At the heart of the much-talked-about Gino World Jollof Festival in Lagos stood one object that captured national attention: a massive steel pot, custom-built for celebrity chef Hilda Baci’s attempt to cook the largest pot of Nigerian Jollof rice. The pot, designed and fabricated by Olalecks Tech, became both the centerpiece and the controversy of the event.
On Friday at Eko Hotel, Lagos, thousands gathered to witness the spectacle. The Guinness World Record attempt was the highlight of the festival. But drama unfolded when the giant pot collapsed while being hoisted on a crane for official weighing. The near-accident drew sharp criticism, and Olalecks Tech, led by engineer Ola, quickly found itself under fire.
Criticism and Blame
Social media lit up almost immediately. Many accused the fabricator of producing substandard work, arguing that the pot lacked a proper skeletal framework. “Even the legs had no proper support,” one critic wrote online. For a vessel of such unusual size, critics insisted that extra bracing and reinforcement should have been a given, especially since the pot was eventually suspended on heavy lifting equipment.
Context of the Build
What many did not realize was that the project’s scope had changed midway. In her interviews, Hilda Baci revealed that the pot was never originally designed for a Guinness World Record attempt. The festival was meant to be a cultural celebration — an oversized food experience for fans. By the time the decision was made to chase a world record, the pot had already been constructed.
Olalecks Tech had built the pot according to the original brief, which did not include the demands of a Guinness-standard structure. Although additional reinforcements might have been added later, it appears the team underestimated the stress the pot would endure under the crane lift.
The Greater Challenge: Heat Supply
But beyond the structural debate, another issue proved more decisive on the day: fire.
Cooking in a pot that wide and heavy demanded an extraordinary heat source. Instead, the team relied on about six or seven giant industrial burners. These burners could not evenly distribute heat across the pot’s wide base, leading to uneven cooking. By 1 a.m. the following morning — more than 12 hours after the festival’s kickoff — much of the rice was still not properly done.
The uneven heat created constant setbacks. At one point, leaks from the burners raised fears of a fire hazard, forcing the team to turn them off completely to make adjustments. The delays caused by these interruptions, more than the pot’s collapse, became Hilda Baci’s toughest obstacle.
Lessons for the Future
For a pot of that scale, engineers say a far more powerful heat source was required — either multiple industrial burners arranged across the entire base or, more traditionally, a firewood system that could cover the spread.
While the collapse during weighing cast doubt on the fabrication, the greater failure may have been the underestimation of the cooking process itself. Hilda’s endurance and resourcefulness carried the day, but the festival also revealed the technical challenges of executing food spectacles at record-breaking scale.
Conclusion
Olalecks Tech has now been thrust into the public eye, its reputation debated across Nigeria. Was it poor engineering, or poor planning? The truth, as always, lies somewhere in between. The pot was built for a cultural celebration, not a Guinness World Record feat. And while the structure might have been reinforced better, the greatest shortcoming may have been the fire strategy — the overlooked detail that almost ruined Nigeria’s biggest Jollof moment.
