Nasir Mamman GCON (2 July 1929 – 13 April 2019), titled Galadiman Katsina from 1992 to 2019, was a Nigerian jurist and nobleman who served as President of the Courts of Appeal from 1978 to 1992.

Biography

Mamman was born in 1929 in

Katsina Katsina State ( ; 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤳𞤢𞥁𞤭𞤲𞤢) is a state in the northwestern geopolitical zone of Nigeria. It is bordered to the west by Zamfara State, to the east by Kano and Jigawa states, and to the south by Kaduna St ...

. He graduated in 1947 from Kaduna College (later

Barewa College Barewa College is a college in Zaria, Kaduna State, northern Nigeria. Founded in 1921 by British Governor General Hugh Clifford, it was originally known as Katsina College. It switched its name to Kaduna College in 1938 and to Government College ...

) and read

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

at the University College of Ibadan. He was instructed in the law and

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

in 1956. Mamman, Mohammed Bello, and Justice Buba Ardo went on to become the first northerners educated in the

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

to be in-government since the fall of the Sokoto Caliphate. On his return, he was made

Crown Counsel Crown counsel are lawyers, generally in Common Law jurisdictions, who provide advice to the government and acts as prosecutors in cases. In various jurisdictions their title can vary and they could also be known as the Queen's Advocate, King's Adv ...

in 1956 and proceeded on for the next two decades to hold several positions in the Government of Northern Nigeria in which he dealt with most of the legal matters. He joined the cabinet of Sir Ahmadu Bello as Minister of Justice in 1961, an office he held until the 1966 coup d'état. He subsequently left the government in horror of Sardauna's assassination to practice law in-private. He reluctantly agreed to return in 1967 on noticing a dearth of experts of the law as Attorney General of

North Central State Kaduna (, جىِهَر كَدُنا; مدينة كدونا; , ; ) is a States of Nigeria, state in the northwest geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The state capital is its namesake, the city of Kaduna (city), Kaduna, which was the List of Nigerian ...

Government. He was made Justice of the

Supreme Court of Nigeria The Supreme Court of Nigeria (SCN) is the highest court in Nigeria, and is located in the Central District, Abuja, in what is known as the Three Arms Zone, so called due to the proximity of the offices of the Presidential Complex, the National Ass ...

in 1975. He retired from the bench at the age of 49, and self-effacingly became President of the Courts of Appeal until his ennoblement on May 9, 1992, as the Galadima of Katsina and District Head of Malumfashi. Mamman died in Katsina on April 13, 2019, after a brief illness.

References

1929 births 2019 deaths Nigerian jurists People from Katsina State Nigerian traditional rulers {{Nigeria-bio-stub