As part of activities marking its 15th anniversary, the Citizens’ mediation Centre (CMC), Lagos has launched a new strategic plan for another four years. ADEBISI ONANUGA reports.
THE Citizens’ Mediation Centre (CMC), an agency of the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, has marked its 15th anniversary.
The occasion, tagged a stakeholders’ conference, held at the Adeyemo Bero hall of the State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja. It coincided with the launching of a new four-year (2014-2018) strategic plan of the agency.
The agency was inaugurated in 1999 by former governor Bola Tinubu. It took off as a unit from one room in the Directorate I of the Ministry of Justice. Since then, it has grown with the passing of Lagos State Citizens’ Mediation Centre Law 2003 and become a model for Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) for other states.
Today, the centre boasts of offices in 14 locations in the state – Agege, Amukoko, Bariga, Ikotun, Ikorodu, Badagry, Ibeju Lekki, Ikotun, Iba, Ojo, Oshodi, Alimosho, Yaba and Lagos Island.
For the CMC, its anniversary provided it with an opportunity to showcase its achievements.
A beneficiary, the Olojo of Ojo Kingdom, Oba Adeniyi Rufai, told the audience that about two years ago, he dragged some of his tenants to the agency for failing to pay their rents. He said the tenants, after the mediatory role played by the CMC, not only agreed to pay but that they left the place as his friends.
Oba Rufai, who said the relationship between him and the tenants, had remained cordial since then, said the staff of the centre were wonderful as they saved him the huge cost he would have incurred as professional fees for lawyers, if the matter had been taken to court.
In a documentary on the achievements of the centre, Justice Latifat A. F. Oluyemi, recalled a case that had lasted 15 years in the court without a resolution. She said when herself and her team took over the matter, they resolved it in three months. She said the beauty of the ADR was that the meetings were held behind doors and ensured confidentiality.
Justice Sodoten Sosi Ogunsanya said cases go through the ADR process in Lagos and that mediation is held in a peaceful environment. She said mediation provides parties the opportunity of stating their minds and getting their disputes resolved.
A former Attorney-General of the state, Dapo Sasore, attested to the efficacy of the system and had several land, tenant and property disputes resolved through mediation.
Also testifying to the gains of the centre, Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN), in a keynote address, disclosed that the centre recovered N1.5 billion on behalf of Lagosians, who sought the assistance of the agency, to recover their entitlements between January 2008 and August, this year.
The governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Commerce, Mrs. Olusola Oworu, said this year alone, the centre settled 14,297 cases.
He noted that but for the CMC, the cases would have ended up in court, thereby adding to the already congested dockets of the judges and contributing to justice delay.
He said the number of cases handled by the CMC also represented the number of citizens, who, for reasons of poverty, ignorance or fear, would not have had access to justice despite that they have pecuniary claims and other enforceable legal rights.
Fashola said his administration would remain committed to ensuring that no citizen of the state is deprived of justice on account of financial status or geographical location.
He said this decision was “anchored on the principle that injustice to one Lagosian that goes without redress is injustice to all Lagosians”.
He said the principle of justice for all Lagosians would be achieved through the CMC, Office of the Public Defender (OPD) and other related agencies.
The governor commended the director of the CMC and her team, as well as her predecessors and other support staff on how they worked over the years, stressing: “Their constant commitment and sense of responsibility are highly commendable.”
He expressed conviction that the stakeholders’ meeting would enable the centre “steps up to the next level and attain its full potential”.
The Attorney-General, Ade Ipaye, who was represented by the Solicitor-General, Lawal Pedro(SAN), in a welcome address, said mediation has helped resolve many cases that would have ended up in courts, thereby taking a very long time to resolve.
Pedro said the people of the state embraced mediation because of its benefits of ensuring confidentiality, particularly in family matters.
Pedro said the system helps to create a win-win situation for both the aggrieved and the aggressor as they would leave the place as friends as against adversaries.
The Director of CMC, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Odusanya, said the achievements of the centre within the 15 years of its existence attested to the fact that the aim of the government to ensure that the people of the state have access to justice was being achieved.
Mrs Odusanya explained that the strategic plan sets out the modalities for training and re-training of the administrators to ensure that they are equipped to meet international standard, among other plans. The CMC director said the new strategic plan has three major goals.
According to her, the first goal is to become a household name in Lagos, recognised for speedy and free dispute resolution by 2018. Under this goal, she said five new centres would be created, yearly, in the state by 2018 while there would be increased sensitisation to reach all areas covered by the unit.
Mrs Odusanya said the plan, under the second goal, is to increase settlement rate and level of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) compliance by 25 per cent by 2018. Under this goal, she said they would develop standards for effective mediation, train 80 per cent of mediators and support staff by 2015.
The director said the plan was to achieve 90 per cent user satisfaction of mediation as a viable means of dispute resolution by 2018. This, she said, was being done to ensure that CMC units meet minimum agreed standards of facilities for user satisfaction, develop and implement an operational public complaints system by 2017 and to introduce staggered mediation appointment system in all units in order to reduce waiting time of users by about 80 per cent among others.
The Head of Service, Mrs. Seyi Williams, attested that the people of Lagos have tested mediation and there was a great demand for the system to resolve their disputes.
She said there was the need for sensitisation of the public on the benefits of mediation for the people who cannot afford the cost of litigation in court. She said a lot of people were still being maltreated but that they do not know where to get redress.
