Nigerian man sets Guinness World Record for largest drawing

Fola David-Tolaram, a Nigerian man broke the Guinness World Record for the largest drawing, which is the size of more than three tennis courts.

The gigantic piece of art, a map of Nigeria, measures a massive 10814.5 square feet and created on the pitch at Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Lagos.

David-Tolaram, a doctor by profession, called his Guinness World Record-holding piece a love letter to his country, as he said that it showed Nigeria’s diverse culture.

“The drawing is a map of Nigeria showing the various cultures. The Nigerian country is a multi-cultural nation. I wanted to create something that speaks to that and give people an avenue to celebrate their cultures,” the 31-year-old said.

According to Fola David-Tolaram, he embarked on a trip to explore his country to best describe the diverse cultures in his drawing.

“Before embarking on this record drawing, I took a trip around my country to experience these different cultures personally and it was this experience that I brought to the stadium to create this drawing,” he said. “The food, the clothing, the way of life, the festivals, the things that are used to create music in each of these cultures, are things that I brought together to create the largest drawing in the world by an individual.”

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The medical doctor, now the new Guinness World Record holder for the largest drawing, has been following his passion for the arts for 10 years.

He created his drawing on a 1,360 m² canvas with waterproof markers and took two days just to join all the canvases together to make one big canvas for drawing.

Reflecting on his journey to etch his name in the Guinness World Records, the Nigerian man said people would frequently visit him at the site of the drawing and cheer him.

According to Fola David-Tolaram, the atmosphere would often be electrifying as scores of people would cheer him during the six days of completion of the piece.

“Holding a Guinness World Records title is absolutely unbelievable. I grew up reading about world records and I never thought that I would be a record title holder,” he said.