Several high-follower mini-blog accounts on X circulated a claim that Nigeria had become the first country to ban white and British models in all advertising. The original post was shared on February 24, 2026, by a page on X seen to be curating daily content for its over 420,000 followers.
The post reads, “Nigeria becomes the first country to ban white & British models in all advertising. ‘We have 200M beautiful people here.. we will use our own.”
As at the time of writing this report, the claim had generated over 1.2 million views, over 46,000 likes, over 5,000 reshares, and thousands of comments.
A screenshot of the post, later reshared by another X account, @Iamyesyouareno, with over 480,000 followers, garnered more than 12 million views.
The post got even more engagement through the account of some prominent individuals, including Elon Musk, the owner of the micro-blogging platform.
This led to mixed reactions from X users outside Nigeria.
Reactions To The Claim
ROUNDCHECK read through hundreds of the reposts, comments, and quotes- and one thing was obvious. Some non-Nigerians somewhat believed it, while some Nigerians doubted it.
Some framed the claim as proof of reverse racism, while some users did not believe the purported plan of Nigeria banning white and British models.
One user with the name Ronmaris wrote: “Elon loves to bring attention to lies and anything racist. Whatever brings controversy is what Elon promotes. Such a shitty guy”.
Another user Abazwhyllzz said: “Please sir this is a lie,you can confirm from grok Nigeria still uses white and British models for their advertisements.”
More of these divergent views and reactions are what made this claim viral, and still landed on the page of Elon Musk.
The reactions to the claim were largely fueled in part by a quote reposted by Musk.
On closer inspection, the claim that Nigeria has banned “white and British models” needed clarification, so we dug deeper to ascertain the fact.
ROUNDCHECK Findings
ROUNDCHECK conducted a keyword search on the claim if Nigeria truly banned white and British models.
We found some old reports from reliable news outlets detailing an announcement by the Nigerian government to ban the use of foreign models in Nigerian advertisements.
In our research, we found a 2022 document attributed to the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON). ARCON is the statutory body overseeing advertising and marketing communications in Nigeria.
The document was dated 22 August, 2022, containing an announcement that foreign models are prohibited in certain Nigerian-focused ads.
The said document was clearly titled ‘BAN ON THE USE OF FOREIGN MODELS AND VOICE-OVER ARTISTS ON THE NIGERIAN ADVERTISING MEDIUM/MEDIA’.
In the directive, signed by the then ARCON Director General, Olalekan Fadolapo, it was announced that, effective October 1, 2022, foreign models and voice-over artists would no longer be permitted in advertisements targeting the Nigerian market.
The directive stated that the measure was in line with the Federal Government’s policy of developing local talent and promoting inclusive economic growth within the Nigerian advertising industry.
“All advertisements, advertising and marketing communications materials are to make use of only Nigerian models and voice-over artists.”
“Ongoing campaigns are permitted to run out their terms, however, subsequent applications for revalidation for continued exposure of such materials will not be granted by the Advertising Standards Panel (ASP).”
Different international media organisations reported the announcement at that time, including BBC, NPR, AlJazeera.
Conclusion
The claim is PARTIALLY TRUE. ROUNDCHECK can confirm that Nigeria indeed banned foreign models from advertisements. However, it was not race-specific, nor did it single out ‘British or whites’.
The second part of the claim was that Nigeria is the ‘first country’ to ban ‘British or Whites’ models. There is no available data on countries that have banned foreign models from their advertising space.
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ROUNDCHECK can authoritatively report that Hilda Effiong Bassey, better known as Hilda Baci has now been awarded a Guinness World Record certificate for her feat in the longest cooking marathon by an individual.
Hilda’s cook-a-thon journey began on Thursday, May 11, 2023, and continued for four days, culminating on Monday, May 15, 2023.
However, after a thorough review of the evidences provided by the chef, the Guinness World Records team officially recognized Hilda Baci for breaking the record for the longest cooking marathon (individual) and awarded her a certificate, confirming her achievement.
Hilda aimed to meet the target for a record-breaking time of 100 hours; however, her final total was calculated at 93 hours and 11 minutes.
Seven hours were deducted from Hilda’s overall duration due to the wrong timing during one of her early rest breaks.
The rule governing the “longest marathon (individual)” records, afforded Hilda a five-minute rest break for every continuous hour of activity. These breaks were her only opportunities to rest, use the bathroom, or sleep during the demanding cooking marathon.
Guinness World Records, in their announcement, stated that Hilda spent more than the required time during one of her rest breaks.
Previous Manipulated Image
Recall that on May 23, 2023, ROUNDCHECK published a report on the viral image of Hilda Baci holding a Guinness World Record certificate, where, after thorough findings, it was found that the image was manipulated and incorrect.
Several blogs used manipulated images to depict that Hilda Baci had been awarded a certificate at that time, but our findings show the contrary.
The manipulated image showed the Nigerian chef holding a Guinness World Records (GWR) certificate, a few days after she completed the longest cooking marathon (by an individual) in Lagos.
We noticed that the blog updated its claim after our fact-check report, as seen below.
Conclusion
On the 13th of June, 2023., Hilda Baci was finally recognized officially and awarded her certificate for the longest cooking marathon by an individual.
On May 16, 2023, a Twitter user with the account @TheHildaBaci made a tweet and posted the image of Hilda Baci holding a Guinness World Record certificate.
The photo showed the Nigerian chef holding a Guinness World Records (GWR) certificate, a few days after she completed her longest cooking marathon by an individual.
The tweet reads;
“GuinesssWorldRecord
We made history
Thank you for all the love, Thank you.”
The tweet had attracted more than 154,000 likes, over 21,000 retweets and more than 4.5 million views at the time of reporting.
Who is Hilda Bassey?
Hilda Bassey Effiong, popularly known as Hilda Baci, is a Nigerian chef who became a national sensation after cooking nonstop for 100 hours in an attempt to set a World Record for the longest cooking time by an individual. This attempt caught the attention of Guinness World Records, the globally recognized authority on record-breaking achievements.
Hilda, who hails from Akwa-Ibom State, started cooking on Thursday, May 11, 2023, and continued until Monday, May 15, 2023, creating more than 55 recipes and over 100 meals designed to showcase the best of Nigerian cuisine in the marathon kitchen session.
The attempt was set to beat the previous world record of 87 hours and 45 minutes in 2019 by an Indian chef, Lata Tondon. Hilda aimed for 100 hours.
ROUNDCHECK Findings
We conducted a series of findings on the image which was going viral and discovered it was manipulated.
Worthy of note about the marathon 100hrs cooking by Hilda, that Guinness World Records @GWR, through their official Twitter handle, on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, noted that the team is still reviewing the evidence from Hilda’s cooking marathon attempt.
As of the time of filing this report, Guinness World Records (GWR) is yet to officially declare Hilda Baci title holder of the longest cooking marathon by an individual.
This also shows that Guinness World Records is yet to present Hilda with a certificate.
Image Verification Results
We did a keyword search on Google using ‘has Hilda Baci received her certificate’, to further verify which media outlet reported the presentation of the certificate to Hilda by Guinness World Records as well as other webpages where the viral picture appeared.
We found that Zikoko’s blog published a report on Monday, May 15, 2023, using the manipulated image of Hilda. It was an updated version of its previously published report on May 11, 2023, when Hilda was still on the journey of setting a World Record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual.
The headline reads: “Guinness Confirms: Hilda Baci on the Journey to Breaking a Culinary World Record.“
The second sentence in the first paragraph of the post reads: “Guinness World Records officially confirmed it by sending her (Hilda Baci) a certificate…” Zikoko used the image, crediting the source to Eagle Online (another online blog).
Zikoko is a platform by Big Cabal Media that ‘amplifies African youth culture by curating and creating smart and joyful content.’
The Eagle Online, on May 16, 2023, made a post, falsely confirming that the Nigerian chef, Hilda Baci has been certified by the Guinness Book of Records.
The featured image on the post also carries the viral misleading image of Hilda holding a manipulated certificate with the Guinness World Records logo.
ROUNDCHECK’s findings showed that Guinness World Records is yet to send any certificate to Hilda as submission and review of pieces of evidence are still ongoing.
Also, neither Hilda nor GWR uploaded such image on their pages, as of the time of this report.
We conducted further findings using an image verification tool, TinEye, to verify the image.
We inserted the image showing that Hilda Baci has received a certificate from the Guinness World Record into TinEye and we found that the image was manipulated- because a similar picture has since been existing on the web.
The original person in the image is neither Hilda Bacci as claimed nor was the person holding a Guinness World Records certificate.
The image verification tool revealed that the image was first found on the internet on April 15, 2020, and was originally owned by RawPixel.com.
The image showed a black woman indicating with her hand a victory sign and holding a blank speech bubble frame.
Further findings using forensically, another image verification tool, with the aid of clone detection, suggest that the image has undergone some editing and manipulation.
Spotting The Manipulations And Red Flags
We compared both pictures (the original one and the manipulated one) by close view and zooming. We focused on the manipulated one with Hilda’s image.
First, there is a name (@symplyDAPO written on the cloth worn in the picture. This signifies the imprint of the person who did the image manipulation. A further check reveals that the handle, @symplyDAPO is known for editing images for entertainment and satire purposes.
Hence, the image did not emanate from neither Hilda nor is it an official certificate from Guinness World Records.
Secondly, the pointed fingers are slim and appear like Photoshop cropping (from the original image). That doesn’t look real.
A look at the fingernails also shows a sharp contradiction: Hilda finished her cook-a-thon on a Monday, and she had her nails neatly trimmed with no. fixed nails from the start of the 4-days cooking marathon.
Suddenly, the manipulated image showed her with fixed nails, less than 24 hours of completing 100hrs of cooking to beat and set a new World Record. Nail fixing was not the first thing she did after setting the Guinness World Records title.
Also, Hilda’s hairstyle on the first day of the cook-a-thon was a ‘cornrows with stitches’. Days after the cook-a-thon, she hasn’t changed her hairstyle (as several videos and pictures confirmed…)
But the hairstyle in the manipulated image is a ‘twisted braid’. That is a red flag.
Hilda’s hairstyle days after the cook-a-thon vs the manipulated image hairstyle. Hilda had same hairstyle throughout the cook-a-thon and seems not to have changed it yet. Photo Credit-first frame: Hilda Baci Twitter page, second frame: manipulated image
This confirms that the image was edited by placing Hilda’s face on the existing image to make it look real.
Parody Account Misleading Followers
ROUNDCHECK, during the course of its findings, also found that the Twitter account used to make the claim is a parody account and doesn’t belong to Hilda Bacci, as the Twitter name indicates. A review of the profile showed no detailed bio with a single sentence that reads;
“Guinness World Record For the longest cooking world Record (parody)”[sic]
In the bio, there was an indication that the account is a parody. It was created in May 2023 and has attracted over 62,000 followers, with one following.
This conclusion is supported by the fact that Hilda Baci, the supposed owner of the account, had already demonstrated her culinary skills in 2022 by successfully launching her own food restaurant as stated on her official website.
During our findings, we observed that the parody account is following a single account named Hilda Baci’s Cookathon @hildabacicooks (the real Hilda Baci account) which was created in March 2023 with over 115,000 followers.
The Hilda Baci’s Cookathon account provides a link to Hilda Baci’s official website where she announced the details of her cook-a-thon, including the specific location and time. Also, the website provided insight into Hilda Baci’s profile and her journey into the culinary space.
Further findings on the parody account showed that the first tweet made by the account was made on May 15, 2023, which turned out to be the same day Hilda Bacci ended her cooking marathon, as reported here. That shows that the user created it to gain an audience using Hilda’s trending feat.
The first tweet made on the parody account, which garnered 195,000 likes, over 23,000 retweets, and 1,386 quote retweets, falsely claimed in the tweet thread that the page is the official page of the chef; but it was a parody account to mislead followers.
Meanwhile, the original Hilda Bassesy’s Twitter page gave a disclaimer that parody accounts are springing up in the space of the 4-days cook-a-thon. The handler then added a graphic (as seen below) of original handles of the Guinness World Records prospect.
Verdict
The claim of the photo showing Hilda Baci with the Guinness World Record certificate is INCORRECT and misleading. The Twitter account used to circulate the claim is a parody.
As at the time of filing this report, Guinness World Records is yet to present Hilda Bassey a certificate; although she has completed the marathon 100hrs cooking, her evidence is still being uploaded and undergoing review by the Guinness team.
]]>On March 23, a claim was made by a Twitter user, @iam_kellyyce, that Jay Z and Beyonce visited Ilorin, Nigeria, in 2006. The tweet has 43 comments, 105 retweets, and 647 likes as of the time of fact-checking.
Who are Jay Z and Beyonce?
Jay Z and Beyonce are American music superstars who have three young children. The duo got married in April 2008.
Roundcheck Findings
Roundcheck findings revealed that the Governor of Kwara state in 2006, Bukola Saraki, invited the couple to Kwara state to see the efforts being made by the state government to provide clean and potable water for residents.
A google reverse image search revealed different pictures of Jay Z with Bukola Saraki and the Emir of Ilorin Alhaji Ibrahim Gambari. Although the exact date wasn’t obtained, Roundcheck was able to ascertain that Jay Z visited Ilorin in 2006.
While in Ilorin, Jay-Z was turbaned as the Serikin Waka of Ilorin by the Emir of Ilorin Alhaji Ibrahim Gambari
Roundcheck made further research and discovered Bukola Saraki, named a street after the American rapper in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital.
Verdict and Conclusion
After a thorough check, the claim that Jay Z and Beyonce visited Ilorin in 2006 is TRUE.