Nigerian Man Aims for Guinness World Record by Touring 54 African Countries Without Air Travel

Ilerioluwa Babalobi, a 31-year-old Nigerian tourist, has kicked off a visit to all 54 African countries to raise awareness for social interventions across the continent.

The 31-year-old, who started his tour from the Red Cross office in Lagos, would tour the continent, spending an average of five days in each African state visited without using a plane.

His tour would solely be executed by public transportation, making him the first African to undertake such an adventure.

The tour, which he hopes to complete in 9 months, would make the 31-year-old the first African to tour the continent without a plane, using only the public transport system.

The tourist, who began his adventure over two weeks ago, has visited Benin Republic, Togo and Ghana already where he drew attention to their cultural wealth.

In a statement he personally signed on Wednesday, May 8, Babalobi said funds raised from the tour would be donated to the Nigerian Red Cross, an NGO that intervenes on various fronts to assist the poor on the continent.

He said the tour would also promote the Borderless African Campaign advanced by Africa’s rising non-governmental organisations.

According to him, in each country, he would be visiting the tourist sites and interacting with the culture of each country.

Babalobi’s decision to spend an average of five days in each African country would be to showcase the tourist sites of these locations and amplify the cultural wealth and distinction of these countries.

He noted that the trip, when completed, would set two Guinness world records by the Nigerian tourist as he would be the first to tour the continent touching each state and doing so without an aircraft.

Babalobi said he had previously visited each Nigerian state and 16 regions of Ghana as well as over a dozen African countries which has given him a glimpse of how tasking and adventurous the journey would be.