Why I authored a coding book in Hausa — Hajara Yasmin
Hajara-Yasmin Isa is a 27-year-old Hausa student researcher (PhD) in Computer Science at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign under the advisory of Dr Ranjitha Kumar in the Data Driven Design Lab, where she specialises in Human-Computer Interaction and Interactive Computing. Born in Abuja to Diana Hassan Isa and Hassan Mohammed Isa, both from Kano State, […]
Hajara-Yasmin Isa is a 27-year-old Hausa student researcher (PhD) in Computer Science at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign under the advisory of Dr Ranjitha Kumar in the Data Driven Design Lab, where she specialises in Human-Computer Interaction and Interactive Computing. Born in Abuja to Diana Hassan Isa and Hassan Mohammed Isa, both from Kano State, she attended elementary school at the American International School of Abuja (AISA) in Nigeria and moved to England for middle school at Riverston School and Welling, United Kingdom. She attended high school at Neuqua Valley Highschool in Illinois, United States and got her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Illinois, Chicago and master’s at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In this interview with Weekend Trust, she spoke about her motivation among other issues.
Tell us how you got involved in coding?
My journey into coding started at home. My father studied computer science and was an IT manager at Nitel, M’tel and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) on the Nigerian national identity card, so growing up I was always exposed to technology and conversations about how software works. That early exposure sparked my curiosity about computers and problem-solving, while I have always liked logic and data analysis.
What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced as a female coder?
One of the biggest challenges, especially early on, is how incredibly time-consuming coding can be. The learning curve is steep, and progress rarely follows a predictable schedule. You plan to code for an hour and find yourself still debugging at midnight. That kind of time commitment is hard to balance with other responsibilities; and as a woman, those responsibilities often look different. Plans get cancelled. Social commitments get pushed. There’s an unspoken expectation that you will simply reorganise your life around the work. And for a lot of women, that reorganisation comes at a higher personal cost. We used to joke that our male colleagues rarely had to reschedule a salon appointment or skip a shopping trip, but beneath the humour was a real observation: the commitment that coding culture quietly demands, which is not always apparent, especially in the light of the fact that proper representation is also a segment that needs to be improved.
What are some of the most inspiring moments you have experienced?
There have been many inspiring moments, but one that stands out is the discussion around piloting the project at a secondary school in Kano State and realising how it could help students access computer science in their own language. It was in those conversations that the work began to feel tangible, not just something I had created, but something the community was ready to embrace. The excitement, encouragement and sense of ownership people expressed were incredibly inspiring. It reminded me that this effort is bigger than the book itself; it is about creating opportunities, building confidence and making students feel like they belong in the world of technology. It inspired me to keep going.
Recently, you authored one book on coding in Hausa language, not English; what was the inspiration?
The inspiration was actually sparked when I tried to Google how to say “object-oriented programming” in Hausa. Not only could I not find an answer, the same was true for many other technical terms. That’s when I recognised a significant language gap in technological education for Hausa-speaking communities. I began researching and compiling terminology and definitions. What started as a glossary gradually expanded into concept explanations, which I organised into chapters, adding programming examples, exercises and even historical context for the ideas being introduced. But what truly solidified my commitment was a trip to Kano. While driving through the city, we passed a young boy at an intersection with a collection of toy cars he had built from scrap materials. These cars could move and even carry small loads. He was known in the community as “the boy who builds cars.” When we stopped to ask him about his creations, it was clear he had incredible ingenuity and potential but limited access to formal technical education, especially in a language he fully understood and could communicate in. To this day, I remember that moment. It made the problem I sought to solve personal. I realised that talent is everywhere but the opportunity is not; and language can be a barrier to that opportunity. Hausa became my way of helping bridge that gap, making tech education more accessible to those who might otherwise be left out of the digital revolution.
What challenges did you face writing the book?
One of the biggest challenges was translating technical ideas into Hausa in a way that was both accurate and intuitive. Many computing terms simply do not have direct equivalents, so I had to carefully decide when to translate a concept, when to adapt existing words and when to introduce entirely new terminology by borrowing. There needs to be a balance here so that people can actually understand when they read and would be able to connect these concepts to their everyday lives.
I initially felt confident in my fluency in Hausa, but this process quickly showed me that there was much more to learn, especially when trying to contribute to the standardisation of a technical vocabulary. I found myself constantly researching, cross-referencing dialects, consulting other native speakers and thinking deeply about how a learner would interpret each term. In many cases, I had to move beyond direct translation and focus on explanation by breaking concepts down into familiar ideas and culturally relevant analogies.
That challenge ultimately became one of the most rewarding part of the process. It pushed me to engage more deeply with the language and think critically about how knowledge is transferred across linguistic and cultural boundaries.
How long did writing the book take you and how has it fared amongst the Hausa community since its launch?
I started writing the book during my sophomore year of undergrad, but it was a gradual process. I worked on it on and off over the years, often pausing to focus on other academic and research commitments. In many ways, the book grew alongside me. I would return to it with new knowledge, refine earlier sections and expand its scope as my understanding of computer science and education deepened.
Since its launch, the response from the Hausa community has been incredibly encouraging. There has been a strong sense of excitement around having a computer science material available in a language that feels familiar and accessible. People have expressed appreciation, not just for the content but what it represents – an effort to make technology education more inclusive.
What has been especially meaningful is moving beyond the book itself and into implementation. I am in the process of piloting it in schools and seeing students engage with the material first-hand. It feels like the beginning of something larger.
Coding is still considered a male-dominated profession; do you think the landscape is changing for women?
I think people often forget that Ada Lovelace is widely considered the first computer programmer. In the 1840s, she wrote the first algorithm intended for Charles Babbage’s proposed machine, the Analytical Engine – making her the earliest known person to describe how a computer could follow programmed instructions. Yet, for many years the field was not home to women. That said, I believe the landscape is slowly changing.
There is growing awareness around inclusion; and technology itself is evolving in ways that can open doors. For example, the flexibility of remote work can make tech careers more accessible, especially in regions where traditional expectations might otherwise limit participation. At the same time, subtle bias still exists. It doesn’t always show up in obvious ways. It can be small assumptions about technical ability – who takes the lead on projects, or whose ideas are given more weight.
What is your personal experience when it comes to barriers facing women in the tech sector?
The biggest barrier for me is often not ability but perception. Women sometimes have fewer role models in technical leadership, which can affect confidence and visibility. This is why representation and mentorship are very important. When women see others succeeding in tech, it becomes easier to imagine themselves there too.
Why is it important to get more women and girls working in tech?
Technology shapes nearly every part of modern life. If only a narrow group of people builds technology, the solutions may not reflect the needs of everyone. Having more women in tech ensures that the perspectives, ideas and experiences of half the population are included in designing the technologies of the future.
What do you think needs to be done to encourage women to pursue a career in tech, especially coding?
Encouragement needs to start early. Exposure is powerful. Many girls don’t pursue tech, simply because they are never shown what is possible or how they might fit into that world. Creating those first points of contact can make a lasting difference. That can look like bringing tech professionals into classrooms, organising panels at local schools and creating opportunities for students to see the range of roles that exist in technology. Shadowing programmes and hands-on experiences are especially important as they allow young women to move from just observing to actually building and experimenting.
Mentorship also plays a key role, especially for women. Having someone who is familiar with the field to ask questions, to relate to, and to learn from can make the path feel more accessible and less intimidating.
Programmes like Girls Who Code and Society of Women Engineering have been impactful in creating spaces where young girls can learn, collaborate and build confidence together. But beyond programmes, representation matters.
Seeing women who are building, leading and succeeding in tech helps shift what feels possible. Ultimately, it is about creating consistent support systems from early exposure to sustained mentorship so that interest doesn’t just spark but is nurtured into confidence and long-term pursuit.
Why do you think there’s still a bias towards women in tech in the 21st century? What can be done to eliminate the bias?
Much of the bias comes from long-standing stereotypes about who belongs in technical fields. Eliminating bias requires cultural change through education, inclusive hiring practices and ensuring that women have equal opportunities for leadership and advancement. Breaking down these biases also needs to also start at home. People underestimate the power of simple conversations at the dinner table and the tone in which we discuss the work. But I do think that is positively changing now.
Some people believe that girls cannot be both creative and feminine, while pursuing a career in coding
This assumption is false, and reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of what coding actually is. Creating solutions through code requires creativity. Computers do exactly as they are told, which is a blessing and a curse. That constraint means you have to think outside the box, break problems apart in unexpected ways, and design elegant solutions where none previously existed. Far from suppressing creativity, programming demands it at every step. We see this reflected in the real world. Companies like Google, Meta, and Apple have famously invested in creative thinking spaces such as open offices, collaboration zones, and policies that allow engineers to pursue passion projects. These companies understand that, you are writing logic, but the best comes from imaginative minds. As we have seen time and time again the most successful engineers and developers are often the ones who can think laterally, tell a story through a user interface, or find a shortcut nobody else saw. Additionally, creativity in coding also shows up in ways people may not realize. A developer designing a mobile app must think about colour, layout, and user experience, decisions that are deeply aesthetic and, yes, even feminine in their attention to empathy and beauty. Traits stereotypically associated with girls, like collaboration, communication, and attention to detail, are exactly the traits that make brilliant coders.
It’s assumed that coders are introverts who spend all their time in dark rooms writing codes, you mentioned earlier that it strips you of social life, sometimes.
I think we are well past the belief. While there was once a time when the lone-genius-in-a-basement image held some truth, what creating solutions through code is today is far beyond that. Further, while programming can be time consuming at times, that does not mean it strips one from a social life, if anything, the collaborative nature of modern development means coders are often among the most connected professionals in any workplace. And for me, as I gained a footing in the space, the flexible nature of programming allowed me to be in social spaces while also working. For example, it was easy for me to set up a working session with friends at our local coffee shops. Moving past social life, modern software development is fundamentally a team sport. No single person builds anything meaningful alone anymore. To push out any useful system, you need people working across multiple fronts in close coordination, such as frontend developers who build what users see and interact with, backend developers who manage the logic and databases, DevOps engineers who handle deployment and infrastructure, and quality assurance testers who make sure everything holds together. The only way each of these teams succeeds is if they work in harmony. One team moving out of sync can break everything downstream. This is why methodologies like Agile and Scrum became the industry standard. These frameworks are built entirely around communication like daily stand-up meetings, sprint reviews, retrospectives, and constant collaboration between developers, designers, and stakeholders. At companies like Spotify, Amazon, and Microsoft, developers work in small “squads” or “pods” that function almost like tight social units, checking in with each other constantly throughout the day. That is why tools like Slack, GitHub, and Jira (highly used in tech development spaces) exist, to keep people collaborating.
With coding, what are you looking forward to in the future?
I am excited about how artificial intelligence is transforming programming itself. We are moving towards systems where people can build technology using higher-level ideas rather than writing every line of code. My research focuses on understanding how these new systems change the way people interact with programming, alongside designing and building systems and programmes. In the future I hope to see myself establishing a research lab where we develop advanced technologies for.
What are some of the truths about the tech industry women need to know?
One important truth is that the tech industry is constantly evolving, especially with the rise of AI and agentic AI. No one knows everything; and continuous learning is part of the journey. Another truth is that confidence grows with experience. Women should not underestimate their ability to contribute meaningfully to technical innovation. You don’t need to wait until you are hundred per cent ready before taking the first step towards something. However, you need to be hundred per cent ready to adapt and learn.
Talking about adapting, in what ways can tech companies make themselves more inclusive and welcoming for women?
One avenue is being intentional about inclusion at every stage, not just in hiring but retention and growth. Building diverse teams is important, but it is only the starting point. The real work is in creating environments where women feel respected, supported and able to thrive. That includes investing in mentorship and sponsorship, ensuring equitable access to opportunities and being mindful of everyday dynamics – who is encouraged to speak, whose ideas are recognised and who is given leadership opportunities. These small, consistent signals shape whether someone feels like they truly belong. It also requires listening. Creating channels for honest feedback and acting on it helps organisations identify gaps that might otherwise go unnoticed. Ultimately, inclusion is not just about bringing people into the room; it is about making sure they are heard, valued and empowered once they are there.
Aside coding and anything tech, what other passions do you have?
Outside technology, I am deeply interested in languages (I am currently learning Spanish); and I have always been drawn to philosophy and psychology. I am fascinated by how people think, how we communicate and how relationships are formed and maintained. That curiosity naturally complements my work in tech, especially when thinking about human-centered systems. I also enjoy more physical and creative outlets like archery and ice skating. They give me a different kind of focus and help me reset.
What advice would you give to young women who are interested in learning more about coding and programming?
Start with curiosity and don’t be afraid to experiment. There will be moments your code will crash, you will have a bug that seems impossible to fix, but that’s all normal. Coding is something you learn by doing, not by waiting until you feel ready. I also encourage finding community. Whether it is classmates, mentors etc, learning alongside others makes a huge difference. Ask questions, share what you are working on, and don’t hesitate to take up space in those environments. As women, some of our challenges are unique to us, so it is important to find that support system.
In a nutshell, why should people learn coding?
For me, coding is about agency. It is the difference between having an idea and being able to bring it to life. It teaches you how to break down problems, think logically and create something from nothing. But what makes this moment crucial is how quickly technology is evolving. In just the past few years, with the rise of AI from companies like OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, we are seeing a shift in how everyday life is conducted. As different sectors integrate these powerful models, we are seeing a shift in how we learn, how we work, even how we make decisions. And in that shift, I think there’s a real risk. It is very easy to become just a consumer of these systems, using tools without understanding them, relying on outputs without questioning them.
Learning to understand code will start to break that barrier. It will provide a way to engage more critically with technology and provide confidence to experiment, to build and to refine systems. The reason why I think this is very important is because I believe that the best solution for a community comes from those within it. So for me, it is not just about learning a skill; it is about choosing to participate in this technological revolution. The future is being built right now and we should all contribute to shaping it.