Nigerian chef, Hilda Effiong Bassey, popularly known as Hilda Baci, has revealed how she was disowned by her father, Effiong Bassey Edem.
During a recent conversation on the Tea with Tay podcast, Hilda Baci disclosed that her main grievance against her father was his sudden disappearance from their lives.
The Akwa Ibom chef, who recently broke the Guinness World Record, explained that her father has been active in both her and her sibling’s upbringing since their early years.
She lamented that her family’s relationship altered dramatically due to a disagreement between her father and mother, which affected her and her siblings deeply.
Hilda said that deeply impacted her was her father’s abrupt departure, especially when she and her elder brother were on the verge of completing their university studies.
The chef said that she couldn’t comprehend why he withdrew his support for their education, having previously funded their academic journey from nursery through secondary school to the initial years of tertiary education.
She recalled a poignant moment when she reached out to her father regarding her school expenses. To her surprise, he answered the call and effectively disowned her over the phone by stating, “I’m not your dad.”
Hilda said she held onto hope that the discord between her parents would resolve and her father would return. Unfortunately, that reconciliation never transpired.
She said, “My daddy issues stem a lot from abandonment. My dad didn’t abandon me from the onset, I feel like my dad was present to an extent, he tried where he could, but then when it came down to it, you know when they say when the elephants are fighting, the ground is suffering – I think we the kids were the ground that suffered when the elephants, our parents, were fighting.
“So it was very much more they had issues, and then we were collateral damage for my dad. And I feel like why it’s so profound for me is more the fact that I was already in my 300-level second semester.
“So, if you’re to think about the stress that comes from having a child, it’s training them through primary school, secondary school, university, and then once they get out of it, if you can’t afford to send them to their masters, it’s like go and start making money for yourself.
“So in my opinion, we were already – at least my brother and I – we were almost out of that phase where we were constantly asking for money or anything like that, and then my dad is like “oh, I disown you”.
“So I pretty much still remember the conversation where I was calling my dad cuz I think it was matriculation and I was calling my dad like “you will not bring food for me this matric?” and then his response to me is “who is your dad?”
“So, that was when it dawned on me that my parents were having issues, and I just remember going on from that time, and as time went on, it just started to dawn on me that this man is serious oh, this is not a joke.”
The chef revealed that her father’s abandonment became a catalyst for her to achieve a remarkable feat. She spearheaded the Guinness World Record cook-a-thon, not only as a personal accomplishment but also as a means to make fer father regret his actions.
