Chef Failatu Abdul-Razak's remarkable attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual, commonly known as a cook-a-thon, has captured the admiration of Ghanaians and earned her nationwide acclaim.

0

In a resurfaced interview, Chef Failatu shared her humble beginnings and recounted how one individual, the renowned Ghanaian businessman Ibrahim Mahama, made a transformative impact on her life.

1

She described herself as having "nothing" at the time when a friend encouraged her to approach Ibrahim Mahama during his visit to her hometown, Tamale. This encounter, she revealed, became a turning point that significantly improved her life.

2

“This is the first time I’m saying this on air. And I’m telling you for a fact that the very day I met Ibrahim Mahama… John Mahama’s, Ibrahim Muhammad. Look, I was just an ordinary girl from Tamale, a local girl. I remember that very day, we were fasting. We were actually in the fasting season. I was fasting.

3

“I had fasted on that day and we were just about to break our fast when one of my male friends called me and told me that Faila, ‘I heard that Ibrahim Mahama has come and he’s at Garba Lodge. You are doing very well with your music. It’s just that you don’t have support. I want you to try and go to him by yourself. Go and tell that man to support you’,” she narrated.

4

She added, “’And if you are lucky, the man is going to support you’. My house is just around Kamina. I took my hijab and wore it … and I took my veil and just kept it on my head, took my motorbike. I was in front of Garba Lodge. God being so graceful. When I got there, he was just coming out of his accommodation and the security was heavy there”.

5

Chef Faila went on to describe how she mustered the courage to approach Ibrahim Mahama, even in the midst of the security presence around him.

6

“I confidently started walking straight towards the man. All of a sudden, the security pounced on me. Why are you going? Come back. Come back. But I kept moving, so they rushed to come and hold me back. Then the man did this (a sign) and said, leave her.

7

“When I got closer to the man after the security left me, he was going for dinner and they had called for prayers for us to break our fast. So, he said,’… let’s go and have dinner together’. This is something if somebody told me that my whole life, I could get such an opportunity I wouldn’t believe,” she said.

8

In her account, the chef revealed that after explaining her passion and needs to Ibrahim Mahama, he sent for a bag, and the financial support she received nearly overwhelmed her, expressing her profound gratitude for the generous assistance.

9

“So, believe me, I was more than shocked when Ibrahim Mahama asked somebody to go and bring him a particular bag. The bag came and I was given money. Believe me, when I saw the money, I nearly fainted. Because my whole life, not even from my family have I ever seen it,” she said.

10

He added that her actions after taking the money made Mahama and his family crack up.

11

“Look, I removed my scarf and used it to cover the money. And it’s an achievement for me that I got him and his family laughing. Because my actions naturally proved to him that I needed this and I am not a slay queen. The man was so happy of my actions. And I loved the fact that he could laugh out of my actions.”

12