Hassana Maina
Designation
Founder
Company
ASVIOL Nigeria
Can you share the inspirations that led to such a diverse professional journey, and how do you believe this diversity contributes to fostering inclusivity in traditionally distinct fields?
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I think for me if there is one thing that I would consider as an inspiration is the way my father raised me. My dad raised me to believe I can be anything, anything that I put my mind in. My father is such a special human being, I would tell him things like when I was a little child, "Daddy I want to do this." And the first thing he would say is "You would do things you can do if you put your mind to it."
So I have been raised by this dogged belief that I can do anything that I put my mind to. When I said I wanted to study Law, of course I was encouraged to go into the field.
My father initially wanted me to become an Architect because he dreamt that I would become an Architect and take over his firm, but none of us, myself and my brothers had an interest in architecture. Asides that, my dad has raised us to listen to ourselves, to believe in ourselves and to be who we want to be.
In all of that, we weren’t forced to follow a path, we were encouraged to go on our own path and discover what works for us and that’s why I have tried everything. In my career I have tried and failed and come to understand that whatever decision I make especially about my career is solely mine. I can only be advised and directed. I'm never dictated to.
I think this contributes to diversity, because when parents raise their children the way my father raised me, especially female children, you’re telling them what the world is not telling them, you’re telling them that they can be anything they want to be, you’re telling them that the world is their oyster. So when they go out there and they say to them "Oh you cannot be a leader, you can’t be the class captain or you can’t be this because you’re a woman", you have already instilled in them that they can be anything and I think that is such a beautiful foundation that would make people to explore all of the gifts that God has given to them.
Managing multiple roles simultaneously requires effective time management. How do you balance these diverse responsibilities, and what strategies have you found most effective?
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I agree that managing multiple roles requires a lot of time management and it can be a lot overwhelming, and I think what happens is that there is a blur between your personal and your professional life because you find that everything revolves around your professional life. But this is the price that we all pay for success isn’t it? One of the things that I am learning to do now is to delegate, you know, to trust other people to be able to do what I should be doing. And I think if there is one advice I learned from Said Business
School, University of Oxford where I course last year is that an organisation can only be said to be successful if the leader is able to create other leaders. This is the journey
I’m on with my staff in our organisation. Also supporting initiatives is another way I ensure that I am not the only leader in my organisation, that I am also able to create other leaders so that I can delegate more successfully and everyone is happy.
As a legal professional in Nigeria, how do you see the current landscape in terms of inclusivity for women? What challenges have you faced, and what advice would you give to aspiring female lawyers looking to navigate and succeed in this environment?
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What I would say about the current landscape in terms of inclusivity for women is, if you look at our law schools and even undergrad, you will see that there are so many women that are aspiring to become lawyers but what we don’t tend to see is that as we progress, we see fewer and fewer women become successful in their legal careers, and I think this is something we must sit back and ask ourselves. What are the setbacks that ensure that worked against women from attaining the feat that men attain in their legal career.
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That is also not far-fetched from our culture that limits women and tells women that this is how far you can go. So I think in terms of inclusivity, especially at the top, there is so much to be done like every other career. It's harder because of the sexist policies that make it harder for women to be able to navigate it and get to the peak of their career.
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In terms of challenges, I honestly can’t say I have faced a lot of challenges expect sometimes people not taking you seriously because you are a woman as subtle as it is and as apparent as it can be sometimes , but these are the challenges that women face in all facets of careers that eventually they would be in.
My advice to other female lawyers looking to navigate and succeed in their environment is find a niche for yourself, find what interests you, find what works for you and work hard and become the best. Even in law, is it criminal justice, corporate, is it the family courts? Find it and create a niche for yourself.
How has your legal background shaped your involvement in the non-profit sector? Could you provide an example of a situation where your legal expertise had a notable impact on advancing women's rights in your work?
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Yes, my legal background has shaped my involvement in the non-profit sector, because there are just so many things that I do not now need the services of a lawyer for because I am well equipped to know what is right and what is not and yo be able to navigate the different role and laws that surrounds the nonprofit sector.
An example of a situation where my legal expertise had a notable impact on advancing women's rights would be my advocacy - me advocating for the Violence against Persons Prohibition Act in Maiduguri and other Northern States, and this is a legislation that because I am a lawyer, at that time I was a law student I knew that this legislation would make significant impact on how cases of violence are being treated in our court. Domesticating it across this states and enforcing them in court would pass a message to perpetrators out there that it is no longer business as usual and that has given an avenue for women to use to go to court to say "Oh, this has happened and according to these sections of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act, it is a crime against the state."
Given your diverse roles, how do you engage in mentorship, and what advocacy efforts do you believe are crucial for inspiring more inclusivity and opportunities for women in the legal profession in Nigeria?
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Yes. There is just so much that I can do and there is so much that inspires others, especially those that are coming behind me. I engage in mentorship in just a simple way of just being authentically myself. And I find that that inspires a lot of people. When you are not hiding anything , when you are not trying to be someone you are not just by the revolutionary act of being yourself, I find that that inspires other people to want to do things you do and want to a larger extent be like you. So I engage in mentorship through lots of ways. I speak to young people whenever I have the chance to. I don’t turn down invitations to serve as a panellist or maybe give a talk in schools because I know that what has done for me, being able to see other people that were doing great work when I was in school and how that has shaped my mind, it is quite difficult to be able to keep up with everyone.
And that is why I feel like just being automatically yourself, it is sending a message to someone out there that might need guidance through life. So with regards to the advocacy efforts that I believe are crucial for inspiring more inclusivity and opportunities for women in the legal profession in Nigeria, I would say that more needs to be done in showcasing the great work that women are doing, especially the work of FIDA. More needs to be done and there needs to be more amplification of this great work that some of these women organisations are doing.
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I also believe that we must encourage clubs in schools that are already in existence so that they would have support and would be able to get mentorship by other successful women lawyers like Saadatu Hamu Aliyu added to it.
Thank you so much.