By Moses Okorie
Former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has commiserated with the family of late Sheikh Justice Ahmed Lemu who passed on at the age of 84 in Minna, Niger State.
Atiku made this known on Thursday, December 24, 2020, via his official Twitter handle, saying the death of the legal luminary and Islamic scholar came at such a time when the sectors he served and Nigeria still need his counsel.
He twitted “Innalillahi Wa Inna Ilaihi Raji’un! Sheikh Justice Ahmed Lemu, OFR was a foremost jurist, Islamic teacher, humanist and philanthropist. His death, at such a time, when the sectors he had served, including Nigeria, still needs his counsel, is a huge loss. He will be sorely missed”.
Born 84 years ago in Lemu in Niger State, the point-blank scholar, jurist, blunt preacher, Imam, exegetic of the Qur’an, prolific writer, author, publisher, elder statesman, public speaker and President of Islamic Education Trust is a distinguished personality who after 22 years into retirement from the civil service, brought his exceptional qualities to fore when he chaired the Presidential Panel on Post-Election Violence in Nigeria in 2011.
Sheikh Ahmed Lemu started his career as a teacher under the Bida Native Authority, Sheikh Ahmed Lemu was a principal of two famous centers of learning in northern Nigeria: the School for Arabic Studies (SAS), Kano; and the Arabic Teachers’ College, Sokoto. He was appointed Grand Qadi of Niger State after the creation of the state in 1976.
Lemu also served in the Judiciary, first as a Shar’ia judge at the Court of Appeals in the States of Sokoto and Niger (1976 – 1977) then as Chief Shar’ia Judge at the Court of Appeals in Niger State (1976 – 1991).