Mr Valentino Buoro, the Convener of Standing Conference of Mediation Advocates (SCMA) in Nigeria, has applauded the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) for collaborating with SCMA to ensure lawyers are trained as mediation advocates.
Buoro, who is also a Lagos-based lawyer, made the commendation during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Wednesday.
“Since SCMA got the approval from NBA in the year 2020 to be a service provider for the NBA Institute of Continuing Legal Education, the take up by lawyers has been quite exciting,’’ he said.
He said that more lawyers found a reason to get trained since their professional body was involved in the scheme.
“It is quite exciting that the training we had in February this year, over 300 lawyers indicated interest because NBA published the information on its official website.
“Though not all showed up for the training, we had above 50 participants who paid the fees and got trained.
“The fact that over 300 lawyers indicated interest on NBA website means that the message is been accepted by lawyers so there is a lot of prospects,” Buoro told NAN.
He said that NBA had been active in promoting the idea to lawyers, to get trained as mediation advocates ensuring that mediation as alternative means of resolving cases, was wildly used in Nigeria.
The SCMA convener expressed optimism that the position would grow further with the recent commencement of the Court of Appeal mediation process.
“Now that lawyers know that even at the appellate level, you can mediate in a recognised fashion, I am very sure that more lawyers will take it up,” he said.
According to Buoro, mediation advocates are the catalyst through which mediation will grow in Nigeria because majorities are lawyers who people go to for solutions.
“Therefore, the more lawyers know about mediation, they will recommend it to their clients as first step towards resolving any dispute.
“The more mediation advocates we have, the better for the growth of mediation in our jurisdiction,” Buoro said. (NAN)