History was made on Friday October 30, 2015 in Lagos Nigeria as thirty one candidates comprising 25 Lawyers and 6 non-legal professionals were inducted as Associate Mediation Advocates and Associate Mediation Advisors respectively by the Standing Conference of Mediation Advocates (SCMA). The inductees having undergone intensive training at the SCMA Introductory level certification courses and having satisfied the criteria of the Advisory Board of the SCMA also became associate members of the body by their induction. Perhaps the cynosure at the grand event, which was presided over by Hon. Justice Adesuyi Olateru-Olagbegi(Judge Emeritus) was the induction of a Roman Catholic Priest, Rev Fr Charles Soyombo who emerged as one of the Associate Mediation Advisors.
In his remarks, Justice Olateru-Olagbegi said emphatically that mediation had come to stay in the world’s justice systems and urged Nigerian lawyers not to be left behind in the global trend. He also noted that by the standards of global trends, these were no longer times when lawyers should attempt to bog down judicial processes and lock clients into unending court trial through frivolous applications and avoidable interlocutory appeals.
In his own address, Secretary to the Lagos State Government, Barrister Tunji Bello recalled the several steps Government has taken to ensure access to justice by all residents of the state. He noted that the induction of Mediation Advocates which was the first of its kind, was an added boost to the importance which the Lagos State Government attaches to mediation as an Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism.
Earlier in his welcome address, Associate Convenor of SCMA Nigeria, Barrister Valentino Buoro had urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to establish Multi-Door Courthouses all over the Federation. Present at the event were the Director of the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse Mrs. Caroline Etuk, representative of the National Industrial Court, Chairmen of IKeja and Ikorodu branches of the Nigerian Bar Association, SCMA Accredited Facilitators and members of SCMA Nigeria Advisory Board
SCMA Nigeria is based in Lagos where it works closely with the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse in promoting training and education in mediation advocacy, and the Nigerian Bar Association in developing mediation advocacy throughout Nigeria.
The joint SCMA Nigeria / Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse Introduction to Mediation Advocacy Course has now had several outings at the LMDC and a total of over 150 participants have now undertaken training.
Full details of SCMA Nigeria courses, fees and booking forms are available from the Associate Convenor Valentino Buoro [email protected]
In October Cross River State Multi-Door Courthouse based in Calabar ran an Introduction to Mediation Advocacy course under the auspices of SCMA Nigeria in a bid to increase its panel of neutrals, and to generate mediation work for practitioners who have suffered from the nine-month judiciary strike.
SCMA has created a training faculty for both mediator and mediation advocacy training. We welcome to it the following:
Head of Faculty: Mr Valentino Buoro
Ms. Osarieme Ezekiel
Mr. Adebowale Olufeko
Mrs. Chinwe Odigboegwu
Mrs. Josephine Akinwunmi
Mrs. Morenike Obi-Farinde
Mr. Ayodele Akintunde
Mr. Adeyemi Akisanya
Mrs. Fadekemi Ojitiku
Mrs. Adeyinka Aroyewun (LMDC)
Mrs. Caroline Etuk (LMDC)
Mr Vincent Adon
