John Obot, an indigene of Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region has set a new Guinness World Record for the longest hours of reading aloud by an individual.

Obot, who hails from Abiakpo Ikot Essien Community in Ikot Ekpene LGA of Akwa Ibom State, set a new record of 145 hours on Monday, September 18, 2023, by 3pm West African Time (WAT).

He effectively crashed the old record of 124 hours set by Rysbai Isakov from Turkey in 2022.

The people of Akwa Ibom State, who were present in their numbers at the Letters House, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State where the activity took place, and the general public, were agog with joy and excitement that this feat had been achieved despite the hiccups that were experienced in the course of the execution of the project.

It can be recalled that this record-breaking activity was scheduled to run from Saturday, September to Friday, September 9 to 15, 2023.

However, the first 55 hours were discarded due to various technical issues and the marathoner begun his journey to success all over again on Tuesday, September 12, 2023 and achieved the 145-hour mark of reading aloud yesterday.

John Obot, however, did not stop reading till about 10pm on Monday.

Among the motley crowd of fans and supporters present at the end of this feat were the State Deputy Governor, Akon Eyakenyi, as well as other government functionaries, who congratulated him, describing his attempt as commendable and thanked the general public for their support.

Eyakenyi expressed optimism that this attempt will rekindle the reading culture of the young people and this will aid in building young people who will profit immensely from the ARISE agenda of this administration.

“I can imagine the mental revolution John’s effort will spark among our young people. We need to consciously promote the culture of reading, if we want to produce more capable leaders for the future. This is the spirit of the ARISE Agenda championed by His Excellency, Governor Umo Eno.”

The Guiness World Records was yet to confirm the new record set by John Obot as is the organization manner in other competitions.