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Amina Augie is a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. She is from Kebbi state in North-Western Nigeria.
Early life and Education.
Amina Adamu Augie was born Anne Eva Graham (neé Anne Eva Graham) on 3 September 1953, in Lagos, Nigeria as one of nine children. She is from Kebbi State.
She attended Abadina School, University College Ibadan from 1958 – 1960. Hope Waddell Primary School, Calabar from 1960 – 1962. Holy Rosary Primary School, Enugu from 1966 – 1967. Queen Amina College, Kaduna from 1968 – 1971.
She studied Law at the University of Ife, Ile-Ife from 1972 – 1977 and proceeded to the Nigerian Law School, Lagos from 1977 – 1978. She, later on, got her masters in law (LLM) at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria from 1980 – 1981.
Though she finished her examinations, Ms Augie had to suspend the completion of her thesis to move to Lagos with her husband. Her quest for knowledge and personal enrichment led her to the University of Lagos where she obtained an LLM in Criminology and related subjects at the University of Lagos from 1986 – 1987. She was called to the Nigerian Bar on 8th July 1978.
Career
Amina Augie began her career as a Legal Aid Counsel at the Legal Aid Council, Sokoto while serving in the National Youth Service Corps from 1978 – 1979. She rose to become the Head of Department of Legal Aid Council, Sokoto State. In 1980, she had a stint with the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria as an Assistant Lecturer.
In 1982, Ms Augie served as a Senior State Counsel in the Office of the Chief Counsel to the then President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, after which, she was appointed Lecturer by the Nigerian Law School, Lagos.
In 1988, Hon. Justice Amina Adamu Augie was appointed Chief Magistrate in the Sokoto State Judiciary. While serving at the Bench, her passion for academia pushed her to accept part-time employment as Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Uthman Danfodio University, Sokoto in 1989.
She also served as an Associate Lecturer in the same University from September 1999 – September 2002. Hon. Justice Augie was elevated to the Court of Appeal Bench in 2002. While at the Appellate Court, she served in various Divisions and rose to become Presiding Justice, Benin Division from July 2009 – September 2010; Presiding Justice, Enugu Division from September 2010 – September 2011; Presiding Justice, Kaduna Division from September 2011 – September 2012; Presiding Justice, Lagos Division from September 2012 – November 2016. Hon. Justice Amina Adamu Augie was elevated as Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on the 7th of November, 2016.
Apart from her legal career, Amina Augie was appointed Chairman, Recovery of Public Properties Tribunal, Sokoto State from 1995 – 1996. Chairman, Failed Banks (Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Tribunal, Lagos in March 1996 – May 29th, 1999. Chairman, National Assembly, Governorship and Legislative Houses Election Tribunal from 2000. Chairman, Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Nigerdock from September 2001 – July 2002.
Other National assignments she has participated include Member, National Swimming Team in 1973; Federal Government Delegate, United Nations Decade for Women Conference, Nairobi, Kenya in July 1985; Member, National Committee on Prisons Reforms in 1992; International Director, National Association of Women Judges in 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 Center, 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.
Achievements and awards.
Hon. Justice Augie has attended and participated in several Workshops, Seminars and Conferences locally and internationally. She has presented over 75 Papers in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Ethiopia and Ghana.
She is a prolific writer and has to her credit 15 Publications in various Books and Seminar/Workshop Publications. She has attended various Workshops, Seminars and Conferences namely: 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.
Hon. Justice Amina Adamu Augie has won several awards and recognitions including the Faculty Prize for Best Overall Student of the University of Ife in 1977, Phoebe Chiadikobi Ajayi Prize for Best Female Student (Ife) in 1977, Amicable Assurance Prize for Best Student (Ife), 1977. She has also received Merit Awards, from The Law Students’ Society, University of Ibadan in 2006, International Association of Women Judges (Africa Region) in 2005, Federation of Muslim Women (FOMWAN), Edo State Chapter, 2005, National Association of Democratic Lawyers with the Ford Foundation in 2005.
In September 2014, Hon. Justice Amina Augie was conferred with the prestigious National Honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON). She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitration and a recipient of the honour Fellowship of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, November 2016.
Her achievements and appointment into the highest court in Nigeria tell us that Nigerian women judges are making important strides in filling positions of authority on the bench and there is no turning back and that Northern Nigerian women are multi-faceted and capable of achieving everything they set their minds to.
