By Gloria Amoh
January 7, 2024, marks the Seventh Day since Ghana’s Failatu Abdul Razak started the Cook-A-Thon journey at the Modern City Hotel in Tamale in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon, which Ugandan chef Dorcus Mirembe has set.
Chef Faliatu and his team have received a lot of support from inside Tamale and outside.
Director General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Prof. Amin Alhassan, also, passed through the venue to support Failatu as she continued her attempt to break the record that had been set by Dorcus Mirembe.
In an interview Prof. Amin Alhassan who came to the scene with his family, said the Cook-A-Thon ‘is not just a cooking event, but an event that triggers the economy of Tamale”.
He alluded to the Accra, Sing-A-Thon in Accra which also witnessed the massive support, and said comparatively, ‘Tamale is much smaller than Accra, but the event is very big”.
Professor Alhassan said the economy of Tamale has been triggered by all activities in the hospitality industry, airline industry, food among others, which has really helped to raise the image of the Northern Region.
“Tamale wasn’t known to receive this number of guests in January, as people are trooping in all over. I think events like these are very important in the economic sense in terms of the hospitality industry.” He said
Prof. Amin Alhassan highlighted that the event shows how resilient we are as a people, where simple events like this can bring some excitement in all walks of life.
“The crowd is phenomenal, and I think it is a very rare experience for the people of Tamale to see this amount of sustained interest from the crowd of excitement and enthusiasm, people dancing or singing, and entertainers coming to perform in solidarity.” the GBC DG acknowledged.
He also commended Failatu, as she has demonstrated that women are capable and how resilient they are. Prof. Amin Alhassan stated that if we get more of these coming up, it will actually boost the economy.
Prof. Amin Alhassan mentioned that Failatu has demonstrated through her initiative that we have more in common than our differences.
“We have shown the world shades of Northern culture through dancers from the Upper East, Upper West, North East, Savannah, and the Northern Region itself, which shows that there is a lot we can show to the world in excitement and joy, and we can show that 2e can offer a lot.” He explained
Additionally, he commended the military, police, fire service, and other security agencies for coming to solidarize with Failatu Abdul Razak.
