Justice Rahila Hadea Cudjoe OFR (born 6 October 1948) is a retired

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

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 former Chief Judge of

Kaduna State Kaduna State ( ha, Jihar Kaduna جىِهَر كَدُنا; ff, Leydi Kaduna, script=Latn, ; kcg, Sitet Kaduna) is a state in northern Nigeria. The state capital is its namesake, the city of Kaduna which happened to be the 8th largest city in ...

. She is the first female Chief judge in Kaduna State and served from 1996 to 2014. She is also first female Lawyer in North Western State as well as the first female Legal Draftsman in Kaduna State.

Early life and education

Justice Rahila 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 ...

, Kaduna State, in 1948. She attended Our Ladies High School, Kaduna and Government Girls College, Dala,

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria * Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...

before gaining admission to study

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

Ahmadu Bello University Ahmadu Bello University Zaria is a federal government research university in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. ABU was founded on 4 October 1962, as the pioneer university in Northern Nigeria. It was founded and named after the Sardauna of Sokoto, Al ...

, Zaria. Rahila was then called to the

Nigerian Bar The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is a non-profit, umbrella professional association of all lawyers admitted to the bar in Nigeria. It is engaged in the promotion and protection of human rights, the rule of law and good governance in Nigeria. T ...

in 1973.

Career

Rahila began her legal career as a State Counsel in the Kaduna State's Ministry of Justice. In 1979, she was appointed a Legal Draftsman of the Ministry of Justice, Kaduna and a Legislative Counsel to the Kaduna State

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...

. In 1983, she was appointed a Judge of the Kaduna State High Court. Under the administration of the former Governor Lawal Kaita of Kaduna State, Rahila was appointed a Chief Judge of the State. She was famous for heading the Zango-Kataf (Market), Kaduna State Riots Judicial Commission of Inquiry in 1992.

Memberships

* Member, National Judicial Council * Member,

Nigerian Body of Benchers The Nigerian Body of Benchers is a professional body concerned with the admission of successful candidates at the Nigerian Law School Bar Final Examination into the Legal Proffession. Members of the body are called ''Benchers''. The body also re ...

* Member,

Nigerian Bar Association The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is a non-profit, umbrella professional association of all lawyers admitted to the bar in Nigeria. It is engaged in the promotion and protection of human rights, the rule of law and good governance in Nigeria. T ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cudjoe, Rahila Hadea 20th-century Nigerian judges Nigerian women judges 21st-century Nigerian judges 1948 births Living people Ahmadu Bello University alumni People from Kaduna State 20th-century women judges 21st-century women judges

Early life and education

Career

Memberships

See also

References