Justice
Mariam Aloma Mukhtar scores another 1st as the first woman to step
in as the Chief Justice of Nigeria.
How
welcome is this development? Reactions from different quarters have welcomed
the development and the NUJ specifically sees the appointment of Justice
Muhktar as a great step in the right direction noting that with the present
involvement of women in governance, implementation of the affirmative action
would increase to about 45 per cent.
This
Woman of Substance is
the first female judge to be appointed to the Supreme Court on June 8, 2005. She is the first female Northerner to become a
lawyer.
Her
appointment will make her the 13th head of the nation's judiciary since the
appointment of Chief Justice Adetokunbo Ademola, the first CJN, who held the
post from 1958-1972.Mukthar was called to the Nigerian Bar on June 26, 1967. By
September 24, 1987, she became the first female to be sworn into the Court of
Appeal.
She attended St. George's Primary School, Zaria, St.
Bartholomew's School, Wusasa, Zaria, Rossholme School for Girls, East Brent,
Somersets, England, Reading Technical College, Reading, Berkshire England,
Gibson and Weldon College of Law and was called to the English Bar in Absentia
in November, 1966.
In
2003, she was honoured by the International Association of Women
Lawyers, and in 2004, the Fellowship of the Nigerian Law School was conferred
on her.
Born
in Kano on November 20, Justice Muktar had her primary education at St. George’s School,
Zaria and also at St. Bartholomews’s school, Wusasa, also in Zaria from 1950
and 1957. She also attended Rossholme School for Girls in East Brent,
Somerset, England for her GCE O’ Levels in 1962 and went for further education
at the Technical College, Berkshire England.
She
graduated from Gibson and Welder College in law in 1966 and was subsequently
called to the English Bar in absentia. She was called to the Nigerian Bar on
June 26, 1967.
She
paved the way for other women to be appointed to the Supreme Court, Justice
Olufunlola Oyelola Adekeye, got the attention of the National Judicial Council
(NJC) which has the responsibility of recommending qualified judicial officers
for the position 4 years after Justice Muhktar and Justice Mary Odili followed in
2011.
Two
questions remain unanswered…what is the rationale behind appointing 68year old
Justice Muhktar who will eventually take a bow when she turns 70!
She
has vowed to flush out corrupt Judges…will she get a “free hand” to make this
happen?
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