Good things happening on conflict resolution By Prince Dickson

An old man dies, leaving behind two sons. In his will, he orders
his sons to race with their horses, and the one with the slower
horse would receive his inheritance. The two sons race, but since
they are both holding their horses back, they go to a wise man and
ask him what they should do. After that, the brothers race again —
this time at full speed. What did the wise man tell them?

On July 31, 2019, history was made in Plateau State, as the
state joined a dozen plus states practicing the Alternative Dispute
Resolution mechanism using the Multi-door Courthouse concept. To
those that attended, it was the beginning of great things. I cannot
but wish the state, its government, judiciary, and the peaceful
people the very best in this stride.

This achievement comes at a time when the nation itself is at
odds, sitting on the precipice, with conflicts in many colours, and
with the clock tenderly poised at 11:59. It is important that all
avenues be explored at solving our multidimensional problems.

Last year in Lagos, the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse resolved a
30-year dispute between two brothers. Look up that riddle again and
you would appreciate the resolution of this particular 30-year-old
litigation.

Nigeria is a highly litigious society. In Lagos State alone,
over 30,000 new civil cases are filed, and a typical court case now
takes between two and 20 years to conclude. A 2012 review of
commercial cases before the courts in Lagos found that it took an
average of 583 days to resolve a case in the court of first
instance each year. Plateau State, like many states of the
federation, is not any different.

Really, what is this Multi-Door Courthouse concept? The name
“Multi-Door” comes from the multi-door courthouse concept, which
envisions one courthouse with multiple dispute resolution doors or
programmes. The multi-door courthouse is an innovative institution
that routes incoming court cases to the most appropriate methods of
dispute resolution, which saves time and money for both the courts
and the participants or litigants.

Professor Frank Sander’s concept of Comprehensive Justice Centre
is rooted in the idea of a courthouse, which provides several
labelled doors, each representing a dispute resolution mechanism in
addition to the existing window and labelled door called
litigation. The rationale for the idea is that, from time
immemorial, ADR mechanisms had proved to be more efficient and
speedy in dispensing justice among disputants. Therefore, according
to Prof. Sander, the idea of a comprehensive justice centre would
offer access to justice for the citizenry and disputes would be
resolved in different ways, even within the established courts.

In Nigeria, the founder of the Negotiation and Conflict
Management Group (NCMG), Kehinde Aina, was a commercial lawyer who
was frustrated by the number of cases stuck in the system that were
unresolved after a decade or more. In a bid for change, Aina
adapted for Nigeria a model drawn up by Prof. Frank Sander at
Harvard University. Not just imply a courthouse but a dispute
resolution centre, where the grievant would first be channelled
through a screening clerk who would then direct him to the process
(or sequence of processes) most appropriate to his type of
case.

Aina convinced the Lagos State executive and judiciary of the
merits of the MDC scheme. He consulted with the Nigerian Bar
Association, local corporations and communities to ascertain their
needs. Working with the Lagos High Court, Aina piloted Sander’s
comprehensive justice centre.

When it opened in June 2002, the Lagos MDC (LMDC) became the
first court-connected ADR centre in Africa. Its mission was to
provide timely cost-effective and user-friendly access to justice.
During the initial three years, Aina managed the operations of the
courthouse, demonstrating his commitment to the new institution and
to promoting ADR.

Complementing, rather than seeking to replace the formal legal
system, the LMDC has improved access to justice in Lagos State.
More significantly, by diversifying the dispute resolution options
available to the people of Lagos, and familiarising lawyers and the
public to their advantages, the LMDC has eroded a long-standing
national bias towards litigation.

Fourteen Nigerian states and the Federal Capital Territory
(Abuja) have replicated the model, showcasing the efficacy of
dispute resolution mechanisms that resonate with local culture and
practice. Plateau has just joined, and despite the gloom in
national politics, the crawling economy, and wear and tear of
systems and the battering that the legal profession seems to be
taking, we are marching on.

Let me end this short take by adding another riddle. A farmer
needs to take a fox, a chicken, and a sack of grain across a river.
The only way across the river is by a small boat, which can only
hold the farmer and one of the three items. Left unsupervised, the
chicken would eat the grain, and the fox would eat the chicken.
However, the fox won’t try to eat the grain, and neither the fox
nor the chicken would wander off. How does the farmer get
everything across the river?

While I am not very good at praise-singing, this is one praise
that I will sing. Many thanks to the Governor of Plateau State,
Simon Bako Lalong, Justice Yakubu Gyang Dakwak, the state’s Chief
Justice, and also the Attorney-General of Plateau State, Chrysantus
Ahmadu; the acting registrar of the state judiciary, Ladi Madaki,
and Segun Ogunyannwo, the humble guru at the Chartered Mediators
and Conciliators. Thank you to Akin Omoware, and the German-led
development agency, GIZ. And to retired but not tired Justice
Senlong and his council members, state NBA chair, judges, and my
humble self, the task before this team is enormous but not
impossible.

The answer to my first riddle is that after they switch horses,
whoever wins the race would get the inheritance because they still
technically own the losing (that is, slower) horse.

For the second riddle, the farmer must follow these steps: 1.
Take the chicken across the river; 2. Come back with an empty boat;
3. Take the grain across the river; 4. Bring the chicken back; 5.
Take the fox across the river; 6. Come back with an empty boat; 7.
Take the chicken across the river.

Nigeria is a great nation. We can and would get there. While I
remain a cautious optimist in the possibilities encapsulated in
this nation, it is important that steps be taken like the farmer,
and the father and his two sons. We must seek alternatives. We must
look at other doors. We cannot keep doing things the same old ways
and be expectant of getting to the next level. To Plateau, to
Nigeria, to Nigeria’s judiciary, so maligned in recent times.,
while hope is an opium, we cannot give up, as we wait to see our
greatness unfold.

•Prince Dickson, PhD, is a development and
media professional

Subscribe ToNairalaw News!