A retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Mamman Nasir, has passed away on Saturday after a brief illness at the age of 90.
A member of the family, Maiwada Dammallam, confirmed the death to DAILY NIGERIAN, saying the elder statesman died at the Federal Medical Centre, Katsina.
He added that the funeral will hold at Malumfashi by 4:30 today.
Until his death, he held a high-ranking traditional title of Galadiman Katsina and district head of Malumfashi.
He is survived by three wives and 13 children.
Profile of Justice Nasir according to Nigeria Book of Records
Justice Nasir, a pioneer legal practitioner in Northern Nigeria, was born in 1929, in Katsina State.
He attended Kaduna College where he obtained the West Africa School Certificate in 1947. He then attended the University of Ibadan, where he obtained a certificate in Latin and proceeded to the Council of Legal Education where he received a bachelor’s degree in Law in 1956 in London, the same year he was called to the bar, Lincoln’s Inn.
Justice Nasir served as Northern Nigeria’s Minister of Justice, from 1961 to 1966 and as Solicitor General North Central State Government, since 1968. He also served as Attorney General & Commissioner for Justice North Central Government from 1969 to 1975. In 1956, he was the People Crown Counsel before he rose to the Senior Crown Counsel in 1957. From 1966 to 1967, he was in Private Legal Practice (Mamman Nasir & Co.).
He served as Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria from 1975 to 1978 and the President of the Federal Court of Appeal from 1978 to 1992, before he ascended to the throne of Galadiman Katsina to date. His words: ‘’I retired comparatively long ago in 1992 and I was in the Court of Appeal since its inception when the idea of getting the court materialised. It was the beginning of the Murtala regime; we were appointed, a few of us, to the Supreme Court. At the time, Justice Daniel Ibekwe from Onitsha was the Attorney General, but he was a justice of the Supreme Court, when the decree was made, establishing the Court of Appeal. Two of us decided to leave the Supreme Court and go down to the Court of Appeal.’’
Retired Justice Nasir served as chairman, Investigation of Assets of Northern Nigeria Marketing Board, chairman, Boundary Adjustment Commission, chairman, Committee on Administration of Federal Capital Territory, deputy chairman, Constitutional Conference, chairman, Transition Implementation Committee. He is a member Honourable Society of Lincolns Inn.
He is a recipient of the national honours – Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), Grand Commander of the order of the Niger (GCON), Honorary Doctorate Degree (LLD), Fellow Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Member Body of Benchers and one time Chairman Body of Benchers. He studied Latin from the University College Ibadan and attended Council of Legal Education School of Law (London) and attended Legal Courses at the Temple London.
He serves as a Director of Japaul Oil and Maritime Services Plc. and is also a trustee of Katsina State Development Fund.
