By Lillian Okenwa
Filled to capacity with dignitaries from all walks of life, the ambiance at the International Conference Center, Abuja on the evening of Sunday 3 September 2023 was light, celebratory, and full of gaiety. Some guests sat around tables chatting away as others mingled and exchanged banters while awaiting the arrival of the celebrant. It was the birthday/retirement celebration of Her Lordship, Hon. Justice Amina A Augie.
When it was just a few minutes past 8 pm the rousing tunes of Flavour’s Game Changer announced the arrival of Her Lordship who accompanied by her 90-year-old mother and a large entourage sashayed into the hall as the speakers bellowed out:
“The Emperor, the conqueror
The champion, the Lion is here…”
Indeed after 45 years as a judicial officer and being in excellent health to celebrate the Platinum year of 70, Amina Augie deserved that special ọjà (flute) in Flavour’s Game Changer.
But she was full of gratitude to God who has preserved and crowed her life with many blessings. And to her guests, she had a few words: “As I look back on my career, I am filled with a sense of fulfillment and pride. It has been a long and rewarding 45-year journey, and I am grateful for every moment. I am also filled with hope, and excitement for the future. While my time on the bench may be over, I look forward to continuing to contribute to society in new ways…”
One other takeaway from the evening was the call by Dr. Ifeyinwa Nwankwesi for the government to revamp the educational sector. Pointing out that the grooming, discipline, and spirit of excellence instilled in them at Queens is behind the several milestones of Justice Augie and the many resplendently turned out Old-Girls that joined her on the stage, Ify Nwankwesi who spoke on behalf of Queen’s School Enugu Old Girls urged the Nigerian government to invest more in education. The Health Coach urged that particular attention be paid to ethics and morals in the molding of these future leaders.
Fourth of nine children, Justice Amina Augie was born on the 3rd of September, 1953 in Lagos. Then known as Anne Eva Graham, she attended primary, and secondary schools in Ibadan, Calabar, Enugu, and Kaduna between 1958 and 1971.
She was at the University of Ife, Ile-Ife from 1972 – 1977 and made a 2nd Class Upper, received several awards, including the Faculty Prize for Best Overall Student, Phoebe Chiadikobi Ajayi Prize for Best Female Student, Ife, (1977), and Amicable Assurance Prize for Best Student (Ife), (1977).
Justice Augie was called to the Nigerian Bar on 8 July 1978 after completing her National Youth Service in Sokoto State and one year of training at the Nigerian Law School, Lagos. In 1987 she obtained an LLM in Criminology from the University of Lagos.
Steadily, Her Lordship rose through the ranks in the judiciary beginning with her appointment as a Judge of the High Court, Sokoto State Judiciary in 1992. Elevated to the Court of Appeal in 2002, she served in various Divisions, including, as Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal in Benin Division (2009-2010), Enugu Division (2010-2011), Kaduna Division (2011-2012) and Lagos Division (2012-2016).
Justice Augie has also served as the Chair of many tribunals. Some of them are: the Recovery of Public Properties Tribunal in Sokoto State (1995-1996), Failed Banks (Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Tribunal, Lagos Zone V (1996-1999), National Assembly, Governorship and Legislative Houses Election Tribunal (2000-2002), and, Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Niger Dock (2001-2002) and more.
Blessed with four children, she was married to the late Senator Adamu Augie a veteran broadcaster turned politician who died in a car crash in March 2001. He was from Kebbi State.
Amina Augie, a recipient of numerous awards, was conferred with the prestigious National Honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) in September 2014, and later with Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR). Augie is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitration as well as a recipient of the honour Fellowship of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.
On 7 November 2016 when she was sworn in as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, she became the sixth woman out of about 104 past and present judges of the court to serve on the Supreme Court Bench.
