From Lillian Okenwa in Abuja, Agaju Madugba in Kaduna and Chika Amanze-Nwachuku in Lagos, 11.04.2004
Former Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Mohammed Bello, has passed on at the age of 74. He died yesterday at a German hospital after a protracted illness. A press statement signed on behalf of the family by Inuwa Abdulkadir, said arrangements were being made to convey his body to Nigeria for burial in accordance with Islamic rites. Bello was flown abroad 10 days ago and as his health situation deteriorated, he fell into a coma last Sunday. A number of sympathisers yesterday thronged the Inuwa Wada road residence of the late jurist at the Ungwan Rimi GRA. A former Kaduna State chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Festus Okoye, in his reaction yesterday described Justice Bello as a storehouse of knowledge. According to Okoye, "the news of his death is shocking but this should serve as inspiration to the younger generation of Nigerian lawyers because the late former chief justice lived a good life and he belonged to the old school that believes in the rule of law." Immediate past president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), as well as Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), described the late Justice Bello as a distinguished jurist and one of the best ever produced by the nation's judiciary. The senior lawyers, who expressed shock over the news of the demise of the former CJN, described his death, as a big blow to the legal profession. Olanipekun said, all lawyers, judges and the entire Judiciary, will miss Bello, who was a father of the profession. He noted that the late CJN served as both counsel and high court judge, before he was elevated as a Supreme Court Judge and later the Chief Justice of Nigeria. "He was a gentleman, a distinguished jury and indeed one of the best jurists ever produced by Africa and the entire black race. "He was a leading Common-wealth scholar who could not be brushed aside by anybody. "His judgment was so wonderful and brilliant. His times are very rare and in a century, we might not get 50 of his type, particularly in a country like Nigeria," Olanipekun said, pointing out that no lawyer or judge can do without reading or quoting him, because, "his judgments which are so compelling and binding, littered all the Nigerian Law Report." In his remarks, Fawehinmi said, Bello was forthright, committed and very honest and was a pride to the Nigerian Bench and Bar. Fawehinmi noted that Justice Bello distinguished himself as a member of the Bench and described him as an outstanding jurist, who performed his duty as CJN with courage, determination, honour and dignity. "He was respected nationally and internationally. He was involved in many landmark cases and has left a mark which is very difficult to surpass," Fawehinmi noted. The human rights lawyer said the deceased was a gentleman, a religious man, humble, very unassuming and honest in everything he did, stating that he was one of the best judges the country has ever produced. He recalled that Justice Bello's decision in a case he (Fawehinmi) filed in 1987 acknowledged him as a Private Prosecutor, to prosecute those he (Fawehinmi) suspected to be behind the killing of Dele Giwa. The case, Fawehinmi noted, was one of the most important cases on locus standi in criminal proceedings. Bello was born in Katsina in 1930 and was educated at the Central Elementary School, Katsina, Middle School, Katsina and was a special student enrolled to study Latin preparatory to law study at the University College, Ibadan between 1945 and 1948. He trained as a lawyer in the Inn of Court, London, and Chambers of Middle Temple after which he was called to the Lincoln's Inn in 1995. But for the intervention of his uncle Mai Shanu Giremawa who encouraged him to acquire western education, Bello described as a liberal to the core, had no dream of attending an English school. He wanted to devote himself to Islamic studies. His best subjects were Mathematics and Science and by 1945 when he commenced post-primary education, his desire to study engineering had become fired. In his final year at Kaduna College, he sat for the London Matriculation exam and passed with distinction. He still wanted to become an Engineer. His maternal uncle, the Emir of Katsina at that time, Alhaji Usman Nagogo, supported his ambition but advised that he should take up appointment in the engineering department of the Native Authority as a preliminary step. Dissatisfied with his one pound, ten shillings salary since his contemporaries in other government establishments were earning five pounds, his complaint got to the Emir who saw his desire for a better life and granted him permission to pursue his career at the federal level. However, some elders in the family who felt he was impertinent to have rejected the Emir's job insisted he must apologise and stick to the service of the Native Authority. Rather than do their bidding, young Bello, now obsessed by his desire to study engineering at university, left Katsina for Malumfashi. He later secured an appointment as a Manager-in-Training with the United Africa Company (UAC). On monthly salary of seven pounds, he felt justified to have rejected the job at the Katsina Native Authority. In 1951, two years after he left Kaduna College, he enrolled for law, a course he never desired. An urgent need arose for indigenous lawyers to work as inspectors of native courts and when the opportunity to sponsor three persons from the North to study law in England came, he was selected. Between 1945 and 1948 Justice Bello was Manager-in-Training at UAC from where he proceeded to University College Ibadan. He was at Inns of Court, London between 1953 and 1955. Called to the bar in Lincoln's Inn, September 1555; Chambers of Middle Temple, 1958- 59; Harvard Law School, Massachusetts, USA, 1962-63; appointed Pupil Crown Counsel, Northern Nigeria Government, February 28, 1956. He became the first indigenous Chief Magistrate, Northern Nigeria Government, April 1961; Director of Public Prosecutions, Northern Nigeria 1964; Judge, High Court, Northern Nigeria, 1966; Promoted Senior Puisne Judge, North-Central (present Kaduna state) and Kwara states, 1968; acting Chief Justice of the Northern States, 1969 - 75; appointed Justice of the Supreme Court, October 1975; appointed and sworn-in as Chief Justice of Nigeria on March 9, 1987. Justice Bello who believed a lawyer should be dedicated to his profession once said: "A lawyer should have two basic qualities. The first is dedication to the profession. When a lawyer is faced with a case, he must find time to study the case carefully; in fact it should be a very serious study. "He must study the laws applicable to the particular case. If he is for the plaintiff, he should not restrict himself to issues regarding the plaintiff alone but should turn himself into a lawyer on the other side. "That way a lawyer will hardly be taken by surprise. Now, that is real professional discipline. The second is integrity. A lawyer is an officer of the court; he is not expected to do anything to deceive the court. He must also strive not to do anything to jeopardize the chances of his client." Out of the many cases Justice Bello handled, he is believed to have recalled only one with regret. "Overall, I have no regrets per se in the performance of my duty. One case though, I regretted handling was that of a young woman tried for the murder of her child. This girl had an illegitimate child and her fianc?e decided he would not marry her for this reason. "Now this girl was travelling to Zaria in a train and it was said that she threw away the baby from the train during the journey. Surprisingly, she arrived Zaria without the baby. "When he was asked the whereabouts of her baby, she replied that the baby had died in Kano. On getting back to Kano, she said her baby had died in Zaria. Meanwhile, a baby was found under the rail during this period and was taken to Zaria hospital where it later died. "Almost everybody suspected that the baby that died at Zaria hospital was her baby. She was consequently tried for murder. I was the judge. At the end, the prosecution could not really prove tat the dead baby was hers, since it had no name, no identification, even the pillow found with the baby was buried with it. "Thus, there was no evidence that her baby died or that she caused its death. However, there was a passenger in the train who testified that during the journey, the suspect had gone to the toilet and she returned crying. When the witness asked her why she was crying, she replied that her baby had slipped from the train. "Now, I decided to acquit the woman. There was no punishment whatsoever. My regret is that I should have at least punished her for attempted murder. All the observers of the case, especially law students during that period believed that I did not do justice to that case. "I agree with them because I forgot that if somebody is accused of a crime, he could also be convicted of attempting to commit the crime...," he once recounted. After his retirement, Justice Bello became a member of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), a position he used to promote tolerance, peace, harmony and understanding among Nigerians. He was also a patron of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF). Until his death, Justice Bello was chair of the Arbitration Panel of the African Development Bank and he was also involved in the promotion of alternative dispute resolutions. He is survived by two wives, 13 children and many grand children.
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