A former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais, died in the early hours of Friday at the age of 89 years.
Justice Huwais died in Abuja.
He was reputed to be the longest serving Chief Justice of Nigeria, haven held the post for 11 years, from 1995 to 2006.
He was also the longest serving Justice of the Supreme Court, having been appointed to the Apex Court in 1979. He served the court for 27 years.
The late Jurist was the only head of the Nigerian Court System to declare his assets upon retirement.
He did this on his valedictory speech on June 12, 2006.
This was contained in a short tribute written by a lawyer, Abiodun Owonikoko SAN who wrote: “Inna lilahj wa inna ilaehi ra’jiun . May Allah (swt) grant late Hon Justice Muhammed Lawal Uwais retired Chief Justice of Nigeria, Aljanat Firdaus .
“I bear witness by Allah to whom my soul shall return at His pleasure that Justice Uwais was dignity- and integrity- personified, both on and off the bench.
“I will forever cherish the blessing of my path crossing his for my own good.
“The only Justice of the Supreme who ( in his valedictory speech on 12 june , 2006) openly declared his assets from his days at elementary school with details of his Bank account, starting from Barclays Bank DCO till his retirement in 2006 on reaching mandatory age of 70 years;
He was the most influential personality in my career path at the Bar . And now that he has answered the home call, he will remain a legend with unblemished record as a jurist and mentor”, Owonikoko wrote.
Justice Uwais was born in Zaria, Northern Nigeria and under the British Empire (now Kaduna State) on June 12, 1936.
He was the son of the Chief Alkali, and later Waziri of Zaria emirate. He was called to the Bar at Middle Temple, London, in 1963.
He began his legal career as a State Counsel in the Northern Region of Nigeria and rose through the ranks to become a Justice of the Supreme Court in
1979.
In 1995, he was appointed Chief Justice of Nigeria, a position he held until his retirement in 2006.
At 36 Hon. Justice Uwais was already on the High Court Bench.
At 41 he was at the Federal Court of Appeal, as it was then called. By the time he turned 43 he had made it to the Supreme Court.
(vitalnewsngr.com)
