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In 2012, President Goodluck Jonathan swore in Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar as the 13th indigenous Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, making her the first woman to occupy the position since 1958 when Nigeria started appointing Nigerian nationals for the position. The President also conferred on her the Nigerian national honour of the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON). Justice Aloma Mukhtar hails from Kano, and was was born on the 20th of November, 1944. She attended St. George’s Primary School in Zaria, and St. Bartholomew’s School in Wusasa, Zaria. She proceeded to the Rossholme School for Girls in East Brent, Somerset, England, after which she attended the Reading Technical College in Reading, Berkshire, England. She studied Law at the Gibson and Weldon College of Law in England, and was called to the English Bar, in absentia, in 1966. She was subsequently called to the Nigerian Bar in 1967. Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar’s legal career is over four decades old, during which she has worked at the Ministry of Justice in Northern Nigeria, the Magistrate grade 1, the Interim Common Services Agency, as well as the Office of the Legal Draftsman. She rose through the ranks and served as a Judge at the Kano State Government Judiciary. She further became a Judge of the High Court of Kano State, a Justice of the Court of Appeal of Nigeria in Ibadan, and finally a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria; the highest court in the land, and the highest position for judges in Nigeria. Her position as Justice of the Supreme Court paved way for her nomination, and subsequent apppointment as the Chief Justice of Nigeria. Justice Mariam is a pacesetter, a pioneer, and a woman leader all in one. She has had an admirable career filled with her being the first to achieve several feats, among which are:

The first female lawyer in northern Nigeria.
First female judge of the High Court in Kano State Judiciary.
First female justice of the Court of Appeal of Nigeria.
First female justice of the Supreme Court.
First female Chief Justice of Nigeria.

Justice Mariam Aloma Mukhtar has quite a very impressive and admirable track record, and she has been described as a highly liberal person with an unapologetic attitude towards upholding the due process of the law. She retired as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2014. About the author: Amina Salau is a writer and editor running The Illuminated Pen. You can find her online at www.theilluminatedpen.com and on Twitter (@_Aminah)