Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

George Sodeinde Sowemimo, (8 November 1920 – 29 November 1997) was a Nigerian

Jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

and

Chief Justice of Nigeria The Chief Justice of Nigeria or CJN is the head of the judicial arm of the government of Nigeria, and presides over the country's Supreme Court and the National Judicial Council. The current Chief Justice is Olukayode Ariwoola who was appo ...

from 1983 to 1985. Prior to becoming a Supreme Court judge, Sowemimo is remembered as the judge in the treasonable felony charge of the State v Omisade and others.

Law career

Sowemimo was born in

Zaria Zaria is a metropolitan city in Nigeria which at the present time lies within four (4) local government areas in Kaduna state; it happens to be the capital city to the Zazzau Emirate Council, and one of the original seven Hausa city-states ...

on 8 November 1920, the son of Sofoluwe and Rebecca Sowemimo. He attended Holy Trinity School, Kano and then proceeded to C.M.S. Grammar School, Lagos. He worked briefly with the

Nigerian Railway Corporation Nigerian Railway Corporation (commonly abbreviated as NRC) is the state-owned enterprise with exclusive rights to operate railways in Nigeria. History and legislative background The Nigerian Railway Corporation traces its history to the year ...

from 1941 to 1944. He received a bachelor's degree in Law from the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

in 1948 and also trained at

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

for one year before he returned to

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

to set up his own law firm. He was appointed a magistrate in 1951 and later became a Chief Magistrate in 1956, he was elevated to the position of judge in the High Court of Lagos in 1961. In 1972, he was appointed a justice of the Nigerian Supreme Court. After several years of services in the Nigerian Judiciary, he was appointed

in 1983 to succeed the late Justice

Atanda Fatai Williams Chief Atanda Fatai Williams, (22 October 1918 – 10 April 2002) was a Nigerian Jurist and Chief Justice of Nigeria from 1979 to 1983. Early life Williams was born on 22 October 1918 in Lagos State, Nigeria, the son of Issa Williams. His fath ...

. Sowemimo retired in 1985 having attained the statutory retirement age of 65. He gave the verdict of the Treason-able Felony trial of Chief

Obafemi Awolowo Chief Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo (; 6 March 1909 – 9 May 1987) was a Yoruba nationalist and Nigerian statesman who played a key role in Nigeria's independence movement (1957-1960). Awolowo founded the Yoruba nationalist group Egbe Om ...

and twenty-six of his associates.

References

1920 births 1997 deaths People from Ogun State Nigerian jurists Alumni of the University of Bristol CMS Grammar School, Lagos alumni 20th-century Nigerian lawyers Chief justices of Nigeria Supreme Court of Nigeria justices {{Nigeria-bio-stub