Thursday, 28th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search
Breaking News:
Law  

‘Nigeria is a viable destination for international commercial arbitration’

By Joseph Onyekwere
08 November 2016   |   4:15 am
On whether Nigeria is a viable destination for international commercial arbitration, Badejo-Okusanya said: “Not only do I think Nigeria is a viable destination, it is a natural destination and, increasingly importantly....
Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya

Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya

Over the years, Africa and particularly Nigeria has become increasingly attractive to foreign investors. However, with increased investment comes increased potential for disputes and the need to train arbitrators who will resolve the conflicts. The training programmes sometimes happen during arbitrator’s conferences. In an encounter with JOSEPH ONYEKWERE, the chair of the 2016 yearly Conference of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, (CIArb), Nigeria branch, Mrs Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, said Nigeria is a viable and natural destination for international commercial arbitration. 

On whether Nigeria is a viable destination for international commercial arbitration, Badejo-Okusanya said: “Not only do I think Nigeria is a viable destination, it is a natural destination and, increasingly importantly, it is neutral destination. It is very important. Disputants have to trust the arbitrators, the system and the institutions. Lagos in particular, presents a credible alternative to some of the more usual destinations like London, Paris, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore. And why not? If foreign direct investment inflows show no signs of abating, then why should the disputes that arise fly west when they need to be resolved? Disputes that arise here should be resolved here. Institutions like the CIArb, the Lagos Court of Arbitration (LCA) the Maritime Arbitrators Association of Nigeria, the ICC, ICAMA in Abuja the Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration- are all committed to our development as an attractive arbitration and ADR destination.

Increasingly also, we have more and more Nigerian judges voluntarily opting to train as members and fellows of the CIArb. This is in addition to the training in Arbitration and ADR that institutions like the CIArb, LCA and ICAMA offer to various courts like the State, Federal and Appeal courts. We find that their lordships welcome these training opportunities and are very eager to learn more about Arbitration and ADR.

Long gone are the days when the courts looked upon ADR as an ouster of their jurisdiction. And we can see the effect of all this training in the progressive judgments in support of respecting Arbitration clauses and enforcing Arbitral awards that are coming out of our courts. Lagos is unarguably the business capital of West Africa; some would argue Sub-Saharan Africa; so it should be the natural, neutral destination in Sub-Saharan Africa for the resolution of commercial disputes by arbitration and ADR. You know, the time is coming when African nations will begin to trade more actively one with another and then they will look to Lagos and Nigeria, where we have all the expertise, the judicial support, the facilities and the cultural knowledge to resolve those disputes. It just makes sense.” 

Dealing with more complex aspects of Arbitration such as ‘Third Party Funding and Emergency Arbitrator Proceedings’ might be considered a challenge for Nigeria, but she said Nigeria is keeping abreast of the trend in other jurisdictions. Her words: “If you look at it from the perspective that the very attraction that international commercial arbitration holds for members of the global business community is its mobile and borderless nature, when it comes to enforcing awards and even in deciding where and how their commercial disputes should be resolved, one will have no difficulty understanding why the Nigeria Branch would aspire to keep abreast of emerging trends in more developed jurisdictions, while still remaining in the forefront of promoting and entrenching arbitration as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism. The practice of arbitration and ADR is as organic as it is dynamic. That means it keeps growing and in a sense, it keeps changing. We have no choice but to keep up with it. So the Nigeria Branch would be failing in its mandate if its conferences and indeed all its other training activities do not have this at their core.”

As the Chair of the 2016 Arbitrator’s Conference slated to hold in Portharcourt and as well as few past conferences, what does it entail to put together an event of this magnitude, which brings together Arbitrators from all over Nigeria? She responded: “In two words- ‘a lot’! I have been Chairman for three consecutive years now; this is my third year and my last conference as Chairman. The first one was in Lagos in 2014, last year’s was held in Abuja for the very first time and this year’s conference is in Port Harcourt again for the first time. All three conferences have had their peculiar challenges but I must readily admit that I’ve had wonderful support from each Conference Planning Committee.

One strategy we adopted which has worked for us is that we have had people who serve in one year, carrying over to the following year and bringing the institutional knowledge and the learning curves from the previous year to bear on the next. That has helped to make planning somewhat seamless, at least in terms of structure. The same Sub Committees we established in 2014 are the same ones we have till date. In each new Conference Planning Committee since I became Chair, I tried to make sure that there was at least one person who has previously served in that Sub Committee serving again. That way we don’t lose traction. Still, the devil is in the detail, so it’s a lot of work but we have a plan and we make sure it works. We also try to work smarter, not harder. For instance, we have had only two physical meetings since the Committee was inaugurated.” 

On why the committee met only twice physically, she explained: “Yes, just two and we will have a final one the day before the conference starts. All our other meetings have been done online. Don’t forget we have CPC members in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. We circulate minutes and comment on them and take final decisions by email. The Sub-Committees also hold regular tele-conferences and then email their Reports to the General House. The Local Organising Committee did all the logistics legwork visiting venues & hotels, interviewing vendors and what have you and I made just two assessment visits to Port Harcourt.  It works beautifully! Thank God for technology! However, it takes a lot in terms of financial resources to put together a conference of this magnitute. We have been very fortunate to enjoy the tremendous support of his excellency, governor Ezenwo Nyesom Wike of River State and his government.”

Talking on the relevance of the annual conference to the ongoing discourse on dispute resolution around the country, Badejo-Okusanya said it creates opportunity for participants to explore new grounds. According to her, it is not only the members of the Institute that attend the conference. Her words: “The Annual Conference creates a meeting ground/forum for arbitrators and other stakeholders to further develop the discourse and explore new opportunities and even developments in the law and practice of arbitration. It is not just for members of the institute to attend. It is open to all stakeholders in the industry, all professionals and even to all those who are just interested in the area of ADR. Lots of smaller groups have their own meetings during the conference to take the discourse even further.”

There are constant talks of the CIArb’s educational/training programmes. What impact has this had on the development of Arbitration and ADR practice in Nigeria? She stated: “I think the reason why there is constant talk about it as you say, is because the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators remains the only Institute that is globally recognised for the training and accreditation of arbitrators and ADR practitioners. When you assume associate, membership or fellowship status of the Institute, you announce to the world that you are on the way to becoming or you are a properly trained arbitrator. The CIArb does this at its headquarters in London and also through its accredited Branches of which the Nigeria Branch is one.  So the Nigeria Branch can and does conduct training for persons aspiring to any of the three categories I mentioned earlier, as well as more recently, training for other forms of ADR like Mediation and Construction Adjudication.

To that extent, almost everyone in Nigeria who uses the suffix ACIArb, MCIArb or FCIArb passed at one time or another through training by the Nigeria Branch. The Annual Conference is an important piece of this tapestry. First of all, the Annual Conference is an opportunity to inform and enlighten members about topical issues in arbitration practice. Don’t forget the CIArb is first and foremost a training organisation. That’s what it does. It trains and the conferences reflect that. The conferences are never just talk shops. Delegates go away each year with practical knowledge that they can apply in their Arbitration practices because that is the aim.

Secondly, the Annual Conference is important because that is when the Gala Nite is held at which new members are inducted into the Institute. This is a big deal. These are persons who have gone through training in any of the three categories I mentioned and have passed the assessment. Believe it or not some people don’t pass.

It’s not a piece of cake. So it’s always a joyous occasion, inductees attend with their families and friends and everyone lets their hair down afterwards. It’s really nice.”  

She explained that not everyone do their training in Nigeria because they are free to go to any of the Branches that are accredited to train or to the headquarters in London. According to her, trainers are trained vigorously and all to the same high, exacting standards, such that whether you qualify in Nigeria or in the UK or the US, you are getting the same quality of training and assessment.  

On why the CIArb is called CIArb (UK) Nigeria branch, she explained: “The CIArb is not really called CIArb UK, it is simply called CIArb, because it’s not a UK organisation, it’s a worldwide organisation which just happened to start in the UK and has its headquarters there. The Nigeria Branch is CIArb Nigeria Branch just like CIArb Hong Kong, Zambia, Ireland or the USA. The Nigeria Branch just adopted UK as part of its name sometime in the past to differentiate it from another institute that had the same name but was not part of the Institute. That is no longer the case because the other institute is now called the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators (NICA). But I guess old habits die hard and some people still find it difficult not to add UK to CIArb. The name is actually CIArb Nigeria Branch.”

In this article

0 Comments