MEDIATION: THE REFLECTIONS OF A NIGERIAN STUDENT ON ADR to ALUTA

So Mr. Michael Babajide, the literati guy decided to open our eyes on the nexus between student activism and ADR. Enjoy!

INTRODUCTION

If there is one word that resonates with education in tertiary institutions in Nigeria, that word is Aluta.  Aluta is one word that collocates with student unionism , Asuu strike, agitations, struggles and disputes between students and school 2 managements, employees and their employers etc. Most times, the end result of this method of making demands lead to conflicts i.e. rustication of students and proscription of the student union, termination and suspension of the academic 3 calendar which inadvertently waste the time of students whose academic pursuit 4 become unduly wasted and delayed. Others are wastage of intellectual and economic resources especially for business owners on campuses leading to unemployment and social vices.

ADR whose full meaning is Alternative Dispute Resolution is one conflict resolution mechanism that was invented with the goal of departing from the costly, tedious and vindictive features of litigation. It is quite interesting to note that contrary to the cliché that litigation has always been the oldest form of conflict resolution in Nigeria, case laws like Ohiaeri v Akabeze, Eke v Okwaranyia  aver that ADR has always been a household conflict resolution mechanism in Nigeria and as Chief J.K. Gadzama, SAN, MCIArb. (UK) rightly stated, “…indeed we see the advent of ADR as a re-statement of customary jurisprudence” .

ALUTA AND ADR: The Connection

The start off point for establishing an incontrovertible nexus between Aluta and ADR is that both concepts deal with conflicts and are creations of human beings. While the former on one hand causes conflict and is pursued when there is a dispute, the latter is a deliberate attempt to provide alternative ways to resolve this conflict or dispute. The United Nations Institute for Training & Research (UNITAR) defines conflict as “a pursuit of incompatible goals by individuals or groups while George Amoh in an article titled “Mediation-The Preferred Alternative to Conflict Resolution” says

“conflict situations arise when or pursue positions, interests, needs, or values individuals groups that may lead to actions that come up against the of others interests, needs and values when they also want to satisfy their goals.” In fact, George went ahead to aver that “conflicts or disputes engender both positive and negating responses depending on how they are treated”.

Mediation: The ADR for Aluta or for Addressing Aluta Issues.

The avoidable consequences of the aftermaths of aluta have necessitated the need for the alternative of Mediation as a mechanism for addressing the conflicts that follow. When students embark on aluta under the umbrella of their union, the following things happen: management proscribes the union, suspends academic activities, and rusticates union leaders. Yet, the reason for which the aluta was embarked upon usually remains unaddressed which then begs the question: why repeat a process that always fails? Academic Staff Union on the other hand after periodic 3 months, 6 months and 9 months strikes and just recently indefinite strike between 2009 and 2017 has not been able to drive home its demands to its employer such that in 2017, it is agitating for a 2009 agreement; this only happens in aluta’s “Litigation” and not in ADR’s “Mediation”. Therefore, Mediation has become imperative for the following reasons:

1. Though a creation of legal ingenuity, it does not require the services of a lawyer

2. It sustains the wheel of learning since before anyone goes into mediation, s/he must have been educated by the mediator about the mediation process

3. It saves time which in this case is the time of academic learning. It also saves cost which are the consequences that aluta portends, e.g. destruction of school property .

4. It fosters communication and makes parties decide their own destiny as is often the case that before aluta is embarked upon, the grievances of the aluta participants are not properly communicated. Also, those embarking on aluta often feel detached and disconnected from the decision making process and the decision makers who often times are the objects of aluta’s attack.

5. Mediation prevents lawlessness as there are a plethora of case laws on the consequences of misconduct in mediation . Also if mediation is 9 adopted instead of aluta, the breakdown of law and order that clings to aluta would be stopped.

6. The terms of settlement that result from Mediation are enforceable in a court of competent jurisdiction unlike the several agreements ASUU signs with the FG which the court won’t enforce.

Recommendations

1. Mediation as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism should be institutionalized in tertiary institutions and incorporated into the administrative structure of these institutions. If this is done, mediation immediately becomes a default process for addressing conflicts and disputes

2. The Ministry of Education should collaborate with relevant professional bodies for Mediation on how to train resource persons in the art of mediation so that they would in turn foster the campaign on the benefits of mediation through trainings, seminars etc.

3. The need to amend the State and Federal legislations on Trade Unions and Tertiary Institutions which are creations of an Act of Parliament with the aim of making Mediation a condition precedent for dispute resolution.

4. In agreement with Moore (ibid), Mediation should be fully funded and new applications for mediation should be fully discovered.

Michael Babajide is a 300 level law student as well as a literature enthusiast.