Mama's Name

Hassana Maina

I will remember to teach my children my name

To make sure they feel the weight of it

Watch their little tongues swirl as they pronounce

Not Umma or Mummy

But my name

So, when I get erased by surname

And lineage

When history is not kind to me

And my heritage erased with one question

‘Where are you from?’

They will remember their mama’s name

My existence will not be reduced to the softness of my back

The warmth of my arms

The smile in my eyes as howls escape through my lips

I will not only be found through stories of sacrifice and pain

Of undiluted adoration and sainthood

It will be said that through my name

I lived!

Author Bio

Hassana Maina is a dynamic lawyer, writer, and gender consultant with a robust background in law and a specialization in development.

She has over ten years of impactful work and volunteer experience in Nigeria. She is a committed self-starter passionate about influencing progressive social change.

She holds a law degree from Ahmadu Bello University, a masters degree in law with specialism in development and globalisation from SOAS, University of London. She has also obtained certificates from prestigious institutions like Said Business School, University of Oxford, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies Kuru Nigeria, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Lagos Business School.

Hassana Maina is the founder and Executive Director of Anti Sexual Violence Lead Support Initiative (ASVIOL Support Initiative), the managing director of HUMA Laundromat, an environmental conscious business and a Global Shaper with the Abuja Global Shapers. She also sits as one of the advisors of the Youth Advisory Committee of the Netherlands Embassy in Nigeria, the World Bank IDA Youth Champions Circle, a Board member of Public and Private Development Center (PPDC) and Nigerian Women Trust Fund.

Hassana Maina was in 2019 mentioned by the BBC media action as the top 5 women fighting for human rights in Northern Nigeria. In 2020 she was the recipient of the future Awards Africa prize for activism, in 2024 she was mentioned by leadership newspaper as one of the women redefining leadership in northern Nigeria and she was  in 2026 selected as a Ford Global Fellow.