Hauwa Maina made her screen debut around 1998 in a film directed by Saminu Mohammed Mahmud.
She appeared in a number films such as Sarauniya Amina, Gwaska and Maina, produced by her company, Ma’inta Enterprises Limited.
Ms Maina was one of the most popular faces in Kannywood. She was famous for her roles in such epic Hausa movies as ‘Queen Amina’ and ‘Bayajida’.
The Biu, Borno State-born star had also delved into movie production and directing after spending close to 20 years in the entertainment industry.
The Kannywood actress, who had acted in no less than 50 movies.
Hauwa Maina appeared in a number of Nollywood movies after attaining superstar status in Kannywood. One of her iconic roles was as Queen Amina of Zazzau. She has won awards including best actress SIM awards 2010, best Afro-Nollywood Award, London (2007).
The late actress, who was born in Kaduna State, hailed from Biu, Borno State. She did her primary school in Kaduna and Geidam, Yobe State. She completed her secondary school in Nguru, also in Yobe State. She obtained a National Diploma in Management from Kaduna State Polytechnic.
She is survived by a daughter Maryam Bukar Hassan, a famous poet and an Information Technology graduate from Radford University, UK.
In one of her interviews with Ms Maina spoke on how she got into the entertainment industry after having acquired a National Diploma in Management from Kaduna State Polytechnic.
She was at the moment combining a freelance job with Liberty Radio with acting, producing and directing movies.
“Interest in the art is what lured me in. As a student, a family friend, Salisu Salinga, came visiting and then said he had to go to a location. I asked what ‘location’ meant and he said it was the site for shooting films. I didn’t know he was a producer.
“I said, ‘wow, I would have loved to be an actress, but I don’t think I can.’ He said I could. But I refused. At the time, I was envisioning in my mind how my posters would be scattered on the streets and how many messages I would be able to pass across to people through this medium.
“We laughed and he left. A few moments later, he came back in a rush and asked if I was serious and that if I was, he would like to give me a trial.
“Then I got nervous as it seemed like it was soon going to be a reality and began to drag my feet. I told him I would first come to watch them shoot. This I would say was the beginning in 1999.”
The Prominent Hausa movie industry magazine, FIM, has reports that Ms Maina was “over 40 years”.
The magazine reports further that she was at one time briefly hospitalised at the National Hospital, Abuja. She died yesterday at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) in Kano, after a protracted illness, and will buried today in Kaduna, family