By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
No fewer than 1,641 new members were inducted into the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (ICMC) at its General Meeting and Alternative Dispute Resolution Conference held in Abuja on Tuesday and Wednesday.
A breakdown of the figure, showed that 84 of the inductees were Fellows, 43 Members, while 1514 became Associate Members.
The ICMC is the umbrella body of dispute resolutions practitioners that regulates and sets standard for the practice of Mediation and Conciliation. It also trains, certifies and inducts candidates as professional disciplines and fields of human endeavors.
The conference themed “Dialogue, Mediation and Conciliation: A Panacea for Managing Polarized Societies” was organised by ICMC with support from GIZ Pro-Poor Growth and Promotion of Employment in Nigeria Programme.
The aim of the conference according to the organisers is “to explore the role of dialogue, mediation and conciliation as tools for dousing the spiraling ethno-religious and socio-economic tensions bedevilling the country”.
Speaking, the Acting cluster coordinator, Program coordinator for Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationalle Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Mr Markus Wauschkuhn, said that dialogue, mediation and conciliation should be adopted as a tool for dousing the spiraling ethno-religious and socio-economic tensions in Nigeria.
According to the Coordinator, Nigeria’s economy requires reforms for commercial dispute resolution, as well as to enhance the capacity of mediators across the country.
“Our activity in Nigeria is aimed at supporting economic development and strengthening the micro, small and medium enterprises.
“This conference seeks to explore the role of dialogue, mediation, and conciliation as tools for dousing the spiraling ethno-religious and socio-economic tensions in Nigeria,” he said.
In his remarks, the President of ICMC, Dr Agada John Elache, said that the goal of the institution was to safeguard the nation from the scourge of conflict, ethnic and parochial misunderstandings.
According to him, a diverse, conflict ridden country, such as Nigeria, with a preponderant tendency to litigate virtually everything, stands to gain a lot from increased utilization of ADR methods and approaches beyond just commercial and business disputes.
The conference featured break out sessions with key topics including “Innovation and Reforms to Improve the System for Commercial Dispute Resolution in Nigeria” and “Aligning Mediation Skills Accreditation and Certification Trainings with Mediation Practices for Peace Building, Security and Sustainable Development in Nigeria”.
