Former President Olusegun Obasanjo will on August 29 chair the public presentation of a book in honour of the late Justice Augustine Nnamani in Enugu State, where he will also deliver the keynote address. The event is being hosted by Governor Peter Mbah, with Prof. Agu Gab Agu serving as the editor-in-chief of the book.
Distinguished legal luminary Prof. Mike Ozekhome, SAN, will deliver the guest lecture, while Prof. Gozie Ogbodo, Rector of the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu, will review the book. Other notable attendees include the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Mr. Uche Nnaji; Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Senator Osita Ngwu (Enugu West); and Senator Kevin Chukwu (Enugu East). The programme will also feature a panel discussion on the “Nigerian Question.”
Justice Augustine Nnamani’s legal career was both remarkable and impactful. Born on August 8, 1934, in Agbani, he studied law at the London School of Economics and Political Science, graduating with a strong Second-Class Upper Division before proceeding for his master’s degree and Ph.D. in Constitutional Law. He was called to the English Bar at Gray’s Inn in 1962 and enrolled as a legal practitioner in Nigeria in 1966.
Nnamani held several key roles, including Commissioner for Lands and Urban Development in the East Central State and Attorney General of Anambra State, before his appointment as Attorney General of the Federation and Commissioner for Justice on December 1, 1976. On August 15, 1979, he was elevated to the Supreme Court — both appointments facilitated by then Head of State, Olusegun Obasanjo.
Notably, Justice Nnamani was among the only two Nigerians appointed directly from the Bar to the Supreme Court, alongside Judge Teslim Elias, who later served at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Prior to this, in 1978, he was conferred with the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), becoming the first recipient from Enugu State.
