By Christian Njoku
Mr Daniel Aiguokhian, a 300 level student of Philosophy in the University of Calabar, (UNICAL) is set to break the Guinness-World-Record, (GWR) for the longest hours of writing fiction and non-fiction by an individual.
Aiguokhian who christened his expedition, “Write-A-Thon”, following the the popular “Cook-A-Thon” by Chef Hilda Baci and “Read-A-Thon” by Mr John Obot (GWR) is attempting to write nonstop for 188 hours and started on Sunday Oct. 1, 2023.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN), on Monday in Calabar, during his short break, he said his motivation to embark in the record breaking expedition was to get the world to view and appreciate the work of writing.
According to him, “though the task was not an easy one, I wanted to inspire people and let them know that they could go the extra mile to achieve their dream irrespective of their circumstances or challenges.
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“To undertake this sort of task, you need to be very prepared because a major challenge will be the lack of sleep which will tell on any normal human,” he said.
He added that he was grateful to the Management of UNICAL, the Department of Philosophy and his fellow students for the support they showed him in the course of the task.
On his part Dr. Timothy Okpe, a lecturer in the department of Philosophy in UNICAL and a key support-team member said the journey had not been easy adding that they got to the present level out of sheer determination.
Okpe said when the expedition started, the publicity was quite low but as they went on people got to know about what was going on and more support started coming in.
“Daniel will be the new face of UNICAL, henceforth more good tidings will come from this institution.
“While I wish him all the best, he is an orphan and I appeal to corporate organisations, spirited individuals and governments to endorse him, he has really passed through a lot but is determined to succeed.
Similarly, Mr Francis Ogonyi, another lecturer in the department of Philosophy said they saw Aiguokhian’s determination and came together as a department to support him.
He said while the Department of Philosophy would be the first to achieve such feat in the institution, the effort has shown them that their was no level a man could not get to if he was determined.
Some students of the institution who also spoke to NAN said they were happy that something positive was happening in the institution, following the negative reports that have emanated from the School in the last few weeks.
NAN reports that by about 7pm on Monday, Aiguokhian would have written for 188 hours breaking the record of Ashrita Furman, an American.
(NAN)