“We did it! We did it! Yes, we did it!” John Obot, a Nigerian man from Akwa Ibom State exclaimed as he smashed his 145 hours Guinness World Record (GWR) official attempt for the longest marathon reading aloud.
“Glory! Glory! Glory!” the excited audience in the hall stood up, chorused and clapped for Mr Obot as soon as the timing device conspicuously displayed in the front of the hall indicated he had successfully clocked 145 hours on Monday, September 18.
Mr Obot, Jnr, interrupted, paused the reading. He rushed down excitedly, stared at the timing device, threw both hands into the air and screamed.
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Some dignitaries, including the Secretary to the Akwa Ibom State Government, Enobong Uwah, and the senator representing Akwa Ibom South District, Ekong Sampson, quickly walked to the front for a group photograph with the marathoner reader.
They were led by Udeme Nana, the founder of the Uyo Book Club and the chief programme director for the reading exercise.
Mr Obot hugged Mr Nana and Mr Sampson and thanked them for their support.
“We are not ending now, we are continuing. We are ending by 10p.m tonight,” Mr Obot said, as the audience kept clapping to him.
With the 145-hour mark, Obot has surpassed the 124-hour record set by the former holder of the title, an Indian, Rysbai Isakov.
Obot started reading on Tuesday 12 September 2023 at Cityview Hall (Letters House), Watbridge Hotels & Suites in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State by 1pm after some technical hitches with equipment/power failures which invalidated his initial attempt.
After reaching the 145 hours mark, an excited Obot declared that he would continue reading till 10 p.m. Monday and thanked everyone present for the support.
The venue of the event was packed full of supporters and admirers of the marathoner who started a count-down for the reader when he reached 144 hours 59 minutes and 34seconds.
Early at 2 p.m. at the ‘Readmania’ event to cheer up the marathoner were the Deputy Governor, Akwa Ibom State, Senator Akon Eyakenyi, Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr Enobong Uwah, Commissioner of Education, Mrs Idongesit Etiebiet, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Umo Eno on Media, Mr Anietie Usen, among other notable politicians and indigenes.
The reading marathon was supported by Uyo Book Club, founded by Dr Udeme Nana, the Chief Programme Director of the Readmania Team.
This was achieved at exactly 2 p.m. while he was reading Echoes of the Traditional Society, authored by Akpandem James, a renowned journalist and former managing editor of Daily Independent newspapers.
The book talks about the unique traditions and culture of the then Eastern Region of Nigeria.
Mr Obot, a teacher from Akwa Ibom State, initially started reading aloud from several books, mainly Nigerian literature, in a small hall in a hotel in Uyo for nine days, since September 9.
After theinitial setback caused by “equipment/power failure leading to technical issues,” in which 50 hours were forfeited, the Nigerian marathon reader, John Obot persevered and enventually notched the target.
Obot, a school teacher is the son of the late journalist, Mr John Obot, who died in active service as the Akwa Ibom State Correspondent of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).
