IN SHORT: In September 2025, food brand Gino and Nigerian celebrity chef Hilda Baci cooked the largest serving of Nigerian-style jollof rice. But claims that Gino is giving away data and airtime vouchers to celebrate Baci’s achievements are false.
There has been a lot of interest in the recent culinary exploits of Nigerian chef Hilda Bassey, popularly known as Hilda Baci.
On 12 September 2025, Baci teamed up with food brand Gino to cook the world’s largest serving of Nigerian-style jollof rice in a bid to set a world record.
Guinness World Records officially declared them as the new record-holders after preparing 8,780 kilograms of jollof rice. The record required 4,700 kilograms of rice.
Jollof rice, a staple across West Africa, is made by simmering rice in a rich tomato sauce and is often served with meat or seafood.
Baci’s giant dish was reportedly made with 4,000 kilograms of rice, 500 cartons of tomato paste, 600 kilograms of onions and 168 kilograms of goat meat, cooked in a specially built pot able to hold 23,000 litres.
Although Guinness World Records recognises the largest serving of Ghanaian-style jollof rice, that record currently has no holder.
Baci is no stranger to the spotlight. In May 2023, she briefly held the Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon.
It is in this context that online claims alleged that Gino was giving freebies.
“Gino Tomato* is giving out 10GB Free Data and ₦5,000 Airtime to celebrate *HILDA BACI* as she attempt to cook the largest pot of jollof rice in the world, aiming to set another Guinness World Record,” reads one message circulating on Facebook and WhatsApp.
The message included links for different mobile networks. It was posted on Facebook here, here and here.
But is Gino giving away data and airtime to celebrate Baci? We checked.
Ignore engagement bait posts
There are clear signs that the offers are fake. We couldn’t find them on Gino’s verified Facebook and Instagram accounts.
We tested one of the links, and were asked to enter our mobile phone number and network provider.
Even with a made-up number and random provider, we were told we had “qualified” for the data and airtime. But there was a catch: before claiming the rewards, we had to share the link with five groups or 15 friends on WhatsApp.
This is an example of engagement bait – a tactic that increases the reach of a message by tricking users into commenting, liking and sharing. The more people do this, the more the message spreads.
The claim that Gino is giving away data and airtime to celebrate Baci is false.
Read our guide to Facebook scams and how to spot them here.
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