Mediation seen as future for dispute resolution in Nigeria for dispute resolution
When experts and sundry stakeholders in the profession gathered recently for the second edition of the Mediation Conference in Lagos recently, insights were offered just as concerns were raised on mediation as an informal conflict process or mechanism for commercial conflicts resolution.
The mediation conference, an annual event orgainsed by Oakwell Partners, a multi-disciplinary Commercial Law Firm, seeks to highlight the advantages and benefits people involved in disputes, civil or commercial, derive from embracing mediation as against litigation in resolving their differences.
This year’s edition with the theme, ‘Mediation: A Core Business Process and Catalyst for Growth’, attracted both international and local legal professionals including Amanda Bucklow, a renowned International Commercial Mediator from the United Kingdom who has over two decades of mediating complex cross border commercial transactions in the private and public sector.
Almost always, mediation is referred to as an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism, but in her presentation, Bucklow debunked that, saying the using of ‘alternative’ was wrong. “It is suggestive that the mechanism is inferior and or less effective in comparison to litigation which is seen as the core process to resolving conflict; this perception thus sometimes affects its acceptability”, she explained.
She explained further that mediation skill could be used to negotiate and assess every area of the business process, citing examples of mediation skills she had used to promote the negotiation and execution of complex projects from commencement to completion in 12 weeks. According to her, the proper use of mediation skill could accelerate and help business communities attain their respective business goals in a cost-effective way and with speed.
Opeyemi Oke, the Administrative Judge of Lagos High Court who represented the Chief Judge of Lagos state, Oluwafunmilayo Olajumoke Atilade, agreed, stressing that mediation was the future for commercial disputes resolution in modern societies, and that, more than ever before, it has become necessary to let the business community understand the advantages of using mediation.
Disputes are expected to arise in a society where there are business activities involving individual, small scale and medium scale enterprises, but in resolving these disputes, they should embrace mediation which, Oke said, saves time and money and promotes healthy and mutual co-existence.
“Unlike litigation through which huge money is lost in the processing of resolving disputes, mediation is less expensive, time is also saved and used to do other useful things, litigants are saved the big and boring jargons from their lawyers”, she said, adding that “amicable resolution of cases, especially commercial disputes, boosts investors confidence in an economy”.
Oke disclosed that the Lagos State judiciary was working out a mechanism aimed to build confidence in the state’s justice system, but lamented that lawyers were busy looking for ways to manipulate the process. “Mediation is not taking away your source of income”, he assured the lawyers, explaining that it rather helps everybody by making ases and their settlement easy.
To succeed in this crusade, Deji Adekunle, the Director General of Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, canvassed mediation skills for lawyers. He noted that lawyers were often too possessive of case files and would always want to keep those files alife for as long as possible.
Adekunle, a law professor, pointed out however that despite the high points of mediation, it still has its challenges. “Mediation needs the consent of the litigant which some people interpret to mean that he has a weak case that he is not sure to win”, the professor said, adding that the regulatory environment is confusing for many sectors of the economy, and even the regulators themselves have capacity deficit.
Earlier in her welcome address, Osarieme Ezekiel, Oakwewll’s Managing Partner, and a UK-accredited mediatior , commended Lagos State government for recognising mediation as a mainstream justice administration solution. She however, advised that mediation should not be seen to be supplementary or subsidiary to other methods of resolving disputes. “It can be and is a holistic mechanism on its own, in sync with the courts as validating authority of course”, she posited.
CHUKA UROKO