Nigeria Content Online

One way of
achieving quick administration of justice and decongestion of cases in
the courts is by amending the 2010 Constitution to give power to
traditional rulers to resolve minor disputes, the administrator of the
National Judicial Institute (NJI), Umaru Eri, has said.

Mr Eri said this on
Monday in Abuja at the opening of a workshop on arbitration and
alternative dispute resolution for judges and khadis with the theme:
“Effective use of Arbitration and ADR for Better Justice Delivery.”

According to Mr
Eri, “Traditional rulers of today can be effectively engaged to assist
in sanitising delay in the administration of justice by amending the
Constitution to give them powers to resolve minor disputes. Rightly or
wrongly, that is my personal view and no more. I hope the National
Assembly will give our traditional rulers this role in our
Constitution.” Furthermore, he said before the introduction of the
present court system in the country, disputes were traditionally
resolved by village elders by way of mediation aimed at amicable
settlement of such disputes. This system was quick, cheap and did not
breed bad blood.”

Mr Eri said he
grew up to see elders and traditional rulers settle disputes in their
various communities in the country. “The colonial masters came and
tampered with this tradition. Courts were established in northern
Nigeria and the native ones graded ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’. So it was in other
parts of the country. But the colonial masters still retained elders,
district Heads and traditional rulers of all grades as operators of
these courts. Performance was undoubtedly appreciative.

“I, therefore,
urge this workshop to have a rethink and come out with a judicial
policy for consideration by the authorities. To me, and like minds, the
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism is better called African
Dispute Resolution mechanism. The present inherited procedure is the
alternative.”

He added that the
nation’s present court system of dispute resolution “has substantially
remained the relic of the British colonial rule in Nigeria as in some
other Commonwealth countries.”

According to him,
“Bad blood is injected to the extent that bad relationship becomes
inevitable. No one would forgive another easily for the fact of
dragging another to court. Many of us believe that some of our
inherited procedural ways of settling disputes must be revisited if we
desire quick and affordable administration of justice.

“It is interesting
that even today stakeholders in justice administration in more advanced
countries are having a rethink on the continued utilisation of
litigation as a method of resolving all manner of disputes”.

Stressing the
importance of traditional rulers in the present search for ADR, he
said, “They adjudicated effectively before and during the colonial
administration. Why should they not now be involved?

“Today, we have eminent jurists who are traditional rulers and title
holders like Mammam Nasir, Sulu Gambari, Oba John Ajakaiye, Oba
Olateru-Olagbegi, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, Umaru Abdullahi, S.M.A. Belgore.”