Mamman Nasir

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

Early life and education

Mamman was born on 2 July 1929 in Katsina, in what was then British Nigeria. He graduated from Kaduna College (later Barewa College) in 1947 and subsequently read Latin at University College, Ibadan. He was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn, London in 1956, becoming one of the first northerners educated in the common law since the fall of the Sokoto Caliphate, alongside Mohammed Bello and Justice Buba Ardo.

Legal and political career

On his return to Nigeria, Mamman was appointed Crown Counsel in 1956 and spent the next two decades holding several positions in the Government of Northern Nigeria. In 1961, he joined the cabinet of Premier Sir Ahmadu Bello as Minister of Justice, a position he held until the January 1966 military coup. Deeply affected by the assassination of the Sardauna of Sokoto, he left government to practise law privately before returning in 1967 as Attorney General of North Central State.

He was appointed Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1975 and subsequently became President of the Courts of Appeal in 1978, a position he held until 1992.

Traditional rulership

On 9 May 1992, Mamman was ennobled as the Galadima of Katsina and District Head of Malumfashi, a title he held until his death in 2019. In his later years he was an outspoken voice on national security, advocating for the greater involvement of traditional rulers in the fight against insurgency in northern Nigeria.

Death

Mamman died in Katsina on 13 April 2019 after a brief illness, at the age of 89.