By Eric Elezuo
When prolific and detailed academics and legal luminaries in Nigeria are counted, a detailed mention will be reserved for a quintessential achiever, Justice Amina Adamu Augie, whose landmarks in the academic and legal systems of Nigeria have a scripted monumental success, giving her a pride of place in the body polity. Her story is an avalanche of quantum leaps.
Born in Lagos, South West, Nigeria, as Anne Eva Graham on September 3, 1953, Amina, hails from Kebbi State, North West Nigeria. Her origin and birth place did not in any way limit her quest for Nigerianism, but rather highlighted it. In her efforts to amass the best of knowledge and education, Amina practically traversed the length and breadth of the nation dipping hands into pockets full of knowledge, and coming out more refined than ever.
Kickstarting her academic pursuit at the age of five in 1958, beautiful, intelligent and classy Amina attended Abadina School, in the then University College, Ibadan, where she spent two prolific years before leaving for Hope Waddell Primary School, Calabar, and spent another two years between 1960 and 1962.
As a result of the constant movement of her family, in 1966, she again, attended Holy Rosary Primary School, Enugu, where she completed her primary education, She thereafter, was admitted into the Queen Amina College, Kaduna in 1968, and graduated in 1971.
After her secondary education, Amina secured admission into the prestigious University of Ife, Ile-Ife from where she graduated with a LLB law degree in 1977, and proceeded to the Nigerian Law School, Lagos in the same year, finishing in 1978, and called to the Bar in the same year, July 8, 1978 to be precise, becoming a barrister and solicitor of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
After her call to the bar in 1978, she began her professional career by first embarking on the one year compulsory service to fatherland for her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme. She served as a Legal Aid Counsel at the Legal Aid Council, Sokoto, and rose to become the Head of Department of Legal Aid Council, Sokoto State. Afterwards, she ventured into the classroom at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and had a stint with teaching as an Assistant Lecturer between 1980.
Her brief stay in the ivory tower ended in 1982 when she returned to the legal profession to serve in the administration of late former president, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, serving as a Senior State Counsel in the Office of the Chief Counsel to the then President. At the twilight of the government in 1984, she was again appointed a Lecturer by the Nigerian Law School, Lagos.
With a detailed commitment to grab the greener pastures, Amina had earlier returned to school in 1980, joining the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria for a Masters degree in Law, and graduating in 1981. She also attended the University of Lagos between 1986 and 1987 where she obtained her LLM in Criminology
In 1988, she returned to full time legal career, and was appointed Chief Magistrate in the Sokoto State Judiciary, but the passion and love for teaching did not end with the appointment as even while serving at the Bench, she accepted a part-time employment as Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Uthman Danfodio University, Sokoto, and functioned satisfactorily in the position from 1989 to 1992. She also served as an Associate Lecturer in the same University from September 1999 – September 2002, spanning a gracious three years of stewardship.
Hon. Justice Augie, as she is professionally referred to, was in the same 2002 elevated to the Court of Appeal Bench. While at the Appellate Court, she exhibited level of professionalism, serving in various Divisions and rising to become among other high level positions the Presiding Justice, Benin Division from July 2009 to September 2010; Presiding Justice, Enugu Division from September 2010 – September 2011; Presiding Justice, Kaduna Division from September 2011 – September 2012 and Presiding Justice, Lagos Division from September 2012 – November 2016.
And to cap her professional endeavours in legal matters, Hon. Justice Amina Adamu Augie was elevated as Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on November 7, 2016.
HONOURS AND AWARDS
Justice Amina Augie is not a stranger to honours and awards as they trail her every move. She had been winning awards right from her school day, and some of her several awards and recognitions are, but not limited to Faculty Prize for Best Overall Student of University of Ife (1977), Phoebe Chiadikobi Ajayi Prize for Best Female Student, Ife, (1977), and Amicable Assurance Prize for Best Student (Ife), (1977).
She has also received Merit Awards, from The Law Students’ Society, University of Ibadan, (2006), International Association of Women Judges, Africa Region, (2005), Federation of Muslim Women (FOMWAN), Edo State Chapter, (2005), National Association of Democratic Lawyers with the Ford Foundation, (2005), Nigerian Law School Graduating Class of 1988, (2003), Sokoto State Students, (2001), Gamji Club, Sokoto, (1992), Faculty of Law Students, Uthman Danfodio University, Sokoto, (1991), Lagos State Judiciary, (2016), Kebbi State, (2016) and Court of Appeal, (2014).
In September, 2014, she was conferred with the prestigious National Honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON). She is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitration as well as a recipient of the honour Fellowship of Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, November 2016.
OTHER NOTABLE APPOINTMENTS
Apart from serving as education officer and various categories of legal assignment, Justice Augie has also held major adhoc positions such as Chairman, Recovery of Public Properties Tribunal, Sokoto State (1995 – 1996). She was also the Chairman, Failed Banks (Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Tribunal, Lagos from March 1996 to May 29, 1999, Chairman, National Assembly, Governorship and Legislative Houses Election Tribunal from 2000 to 2002 and Chairman, Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Nigerdock, from September 2001 to July, 2002.
Other duties attached to Augie are as part of national assignments she has participated in are:
Member, National Swimming Team, 1973 – 1976
Federal Government Delegate, United Nations Decade for Women Conference, Nairobi, Kenya, July 1985
Member, National Committee on Prisons Reforms, 1992
International Director, National Association of Women Judges, 1997 – 2000
Member, National Working Group on Juvenile Justice Administration, July 2002
Chairman, Experts Consultative Meeting – Passage of Child Rights Bill, March 2003
Member, National Child Rights Implementation Committee, September 2003
Chairman, National Facilitators of the Child Rights Act, April 2004
Member, Board of Trustees, Human Development Initiatives (HDI) and Child Rights Education Centre, 2007 to date
Member, Kebbi State Pilgrims Welfare Board, 2007 – 2016
Member, Board of Directors, Institute of Human Rights and Development in Africa, Banjul, The Gambia, 2008 – 2014.
WORKSHOPS, SEMINARS AND PUBLICATIONS
Hon. Justice Augie has participated in several Workshops, Seminars and Conferences locally and internationally. Among the Workshops, Seminars and Conferences she had attended are:: The 4th Biennial International Conference of International Association of Women Judges, Ottawa, Canada, May 1998; Judicial Colloquium on the Application of International Human Rights Law at the Domestic Level, Vienna, Austria, October 1999; African Development Forum (ADF III and IV), Addis Ababa, March 2002 and October 2004; Judicial Colloquium on the Death Penalty, Lake Naivasha, Kenya, 2005; International Conference of International Association of Women Judges, Sydney, Australia, 2006 and Washington DC, USA, 2016.
She has a penchant for writing, and has to her credit 15 publications in various Books and Seminar/Workshop Publications.
FAMILY
Hon. Justice Augie is blessed with four children, and will be celebrating her 70th birthday on September 3. Yes, her story is an avalanche of quantum leaps!
Congratulations ma!
