Chef Faila, Ghana's cook-a-thon queen, shares how Ibrahim Mahama transformed her life.

Through her extraordinary endeavor to shatter the record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual (the cook-a-thon), Chef Failatu Abdul-Razak has captured the hearts and minds of Ghanaians and is now the talk of the country.

Though the public knows very little about Chef Faila, as she has come to be known, she is now an icon and role model for many young Ghanaian youngsters.

More tales about Chef Faila are emerging as the nation continues to commemorate her achievement and awaits the Guinness Book of Records' confirmation that she holds the world record for the longest cooking marathon—having cooked for 227 hours.

In addition to being a chef, Failatu Abdul-Razak performs under the stage name Jah Bless Faila and is a well-known singer in the northern region of Ghana. He has a few popular songs under his belt that advocate for regional development and peace.

Chef Faila, an old interview that has now gone viral, portrayed her humble beginning and how one man, renowned Ghanaian businessman and brother of former President John Dramani Mahama; Ibrahim Mahama, changed her life.

According to her, she "was nothing, had nothing" when a friend encouraged her to go and meet Ibrahim Mahama, when he came to her home town, Tamale. Her encounter with the former president’s brother, she said, altered her life for good.

“This is the first time I’m saying this on air. And I'm telling you for a fact that the very day I met Ibrahim Mahama… John Mahama’s, Ibrahim Muhammad. Look, I was just an ordinary girl from Tamale, a local girl. I remember that very day, we were fasting. We were actually in the fasting season. I was fasting.

“I had fasted on that day and we were just about to break our fast when one of my male friends called me and told me that Faila, 'I heard that Ibrahim Mahama has come and he's at Garba Lodge. You are doing very well with your music. It's just that you don't have support. I want you to try and go to him by yourself. Go and tell that man to support you',” she narrated.

She added, “'And if you are lucky, the man is going to support you'. My house is just around Kamina. I took my hijab and wore it … and I took my veil and just kept it on my head, took my motorbike. I was in front of Garba Lodge. God being so graceful. When I got there, he was just coming out of his accommodation and the security was heavy there”.

The now-renowned Chef Faila then went on to narrate how she gathered confidence to approach Ibrahim Mahama despite the security around him.

“I confidently started walking straight towards the man. All of a sudden, the security pounced on me. Why are you going? Come back. Come back. But I kept moving, so they rushed to come and hold me back. Then the man did this (a sign) and said, leave her.

"They had called for prayers for us to break our fast, and when I approached the man after the security departed, he was heading for supper. "Well, let's go have dinner together," he said. She remarked, "This is something that I wouldn't believe if someone told me that I could get such an opportunity my entire life."

The businessman sent for a bag and the money Mahama received to support her work almost caused her to pass out, according to the chef, after they had a conversation about what Mahama does and the assistance she need.

“So, believe me, I was more than shocked when Ibrahim Mahama asked somebody to go and bring him a particular bag. The bag came and I was given money. Believe me, when I saw the money, I nearly fainted. Because my whole life, not even from my family have I ever seen it,” she said.

He added that her actions after taking the money made Mahama and his family crack up.

"See, I took off my scarf and covered the cash with it. And I consider it a success if I made him and his family laugh. Because I'm not a slay queen, and my behaviors clearly showed him that I needed this. The man was ecstatic about what I had done. And I cherished the fact that my actions made him chuckle.