Man goes blind while trying to set world record

Tembu Ebere during his attempt to cry, setting a world record

The man who forced himself to cry for seven days says he is temporarily blind, when a craze for eccentric endurance feats swept through Nigeria.

Guinness World Records has recorded a surge in record attempts from Africa's most populous country in recent months, sparked by a four-day chef cooking marathon that has caught the public imagination.

Thembu Ebere, who had been trying to cry non-stop for a week, said he had headaches, swollen eyes and a swollen face, and was partially blind for 45 minutes due to his own efforts.

«I had to reconsider strategy and reduce my wailing,” he told the BBC, adding that he was determined to go to his goal, despite the difficulties.

Record-breaking frenzy

A record-breaking frenzy broke out in May when a chef named Hilda Baci tried to cook continuously for 100 hours to «put Nigerian cuisine on the map».

Her attempt was followed so widely, that the official website guinnessworldrecords.com has been down for two days. She was cheered on by celebrities and the Vice President of Nigeria.

The 26-year-old worked for 93 hours and 11 minutes, enough to break the previous cooking marathon record set in India in 2019.

Her success has inspired a wave of similar efforts, including singing the longest , praying and even kissing.

School teacher Jon Obot told the BBC he would try to spend 140 hours reading. classic literature aloud in September.

“The motivation is to promote the culture of reading in Nigeria,” he said, adding that he had chosen “a meaningful record.”

But some of the stunts have been criticized for being flippant or offensive.

p>Forbidden Attempt

The alleged kissing world record attempt was banned in Ekiti state, and authorities told the organizers they would be punished if it will happen.

«[] The 'kiss' as an event is not only absurd, immoral, unhealthy, [but] capable of tarnishing Ekiti's image,» the culture ministry said in a statement.

Elsewhere, a masseuse attempting to set a massage endurance record passed out after 50 hours, and during another cooking race, two chefs were disqualified after turning off the stove and going to bed.

The Guinness Book of World Records itself urged Nigerians to take it easy, and advised applicants to keep in touch with the body or risk their records not being recognized.

«Please stop the records,» the organization behind the record book said on social media. in the media after someone brought up the idea of ​​two separate attempts — «idea-a-thon» and «puff-puff-a-thon».

The remarks sparked backlash from some Nigerians , who wondered if Guinness World Records was really «tired» of their country, forcing the organization to backtrack and say it welcomes «entries from all over the world.»

«We can all be friends ,» the post reads.

Guinness World Records also said it could not confirm if the number of attempts from one country is a record.