Wawa Aba, seed of the wawa tree, refers to the notably tough seed of a large West African hardwood tree, and Willis records the proverb praising the hardiness required to survive difficult circumstances without breaking, much as the seed survives conditions, drought, poor soil, physical pressure, that would destroy a more fragile one; the wawa tree itself grows to considerable size and is commercially significant as a timber species, so the symbol draws on an economically familiar tree rather than an obscure or purely symbolic plant.
Willis notes the specific choice of a seed, rather than the mature tree itself, keeps the proverb's focus on endurance at the most vulnerable early stage, before growth and size have provided any of their own protection. Willis notes the seed's shape is rendered in most carvings as a simple rounded or teardrop form with a hard outer edge suggested by a doubled outline, a minimal but recognizable rendering that keeps the design legible at small stamp sizes, unlike some of the corpus's more anatomically detailed animal designs that require a larger stamp to remain clear. Willis notes this minimal, robust rendering suits Wawa Aba to the smaller decorative stamps used on less elaborate everyday cloth.