Peter Aina

Troubled by the congestion, delay, cost, and lack of access to justice characteristic of the Nigerian court system, Peter Kehinde Aina has set up the first African alternative dispute resolution center that is formally connected to the regular courts in Nigeria.

Peter believes that the congestion in Nigerian courts can be resolved, and swift and effective justice delivered, only if litigation is not the sole legal dispute resolution apparatus in the country. He recognizes, however, that independent alternatives alone will have limited effectiveness. Instead, he envisions a justice system itself comprising all the alternatives for dispute resolution. To this end, he has set up the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse (LMDC), a court-connected alternative dispute resolution center whose primary mission is to supplement litigation with three other processes–or "doors"–in the resolution of disputes: arbitration, mediation, and neutral evaluation. The "courthouse" is not intended to supplant litigation but rather to expand resources for faster, cost-effective, and user-friendly access to justice. Unlike other alternative dispute resolution centers in Nigeria and elsewhere, the LMDC is officially connected to the Lagos State High Court, helping to create a seamless web of justice-delivery mechanisms.

The colonization of Nigeria by Britain resulted in litigation becoming the principal legal form of resolving disputes. Prior to this period, family and village heads were the traditional mediators that assisted parties in conflict in the resolution of their disputes. Since independence, it has been increasingly difficult for the Nigerian courts to cope with the volume of litigation, so court dockets remain congested. This has resulted in untold hardships for many litigants, for example, when a case as simple as divorce can take as long as five years. With the failure of the courts to handle the increasing amount of litigation, more people resort to taking the laws into their own hands, sometimes with disastrous consequences. The Nigerian government has tried to solve this problem through the appointment of more judges, construction of more courtrooms, amendment of Rules of Court, and training and exposure of judges. All efforts have failed to provide the desired results because the need continues grossly to outweigh the supply. In addition, the legal system that Nigeria inherited is so procedurally burdensome that it takes ages even for the simplest matters to be determined.

If this situation is not addressed, there could be a growing breakdown of law and order, as more Nigerians will continue to shy away from courts and take the law into their own hands.

Peter's main aim has been to establish a legally recognized, alternative dispute resolution center where people can avoid lengthy litigation and have their conflicts resolved. The LMDC, the steering committee of which is headed by a retired judge, has three so-called doors–mediation, early neutral evaluation, and arbitration–and a pool of 40 retired judges, lawyers, accountants, bankers, and other "neutrals" to serve as volunteer mediators, arbitrators, and evaluators. Cases come to the LMDC either directly by the parties involved or as a referral from a judge. With the input of the clients, the LMDC triages the cases to the most appropriate dispute resolution mechanisms.

Peter recognized that to make the LMDC a credible supplement to the courts, it had to have some level of legal backing. He negotiated with the Lagos State Judiciary, and the center was eventually approved by order of the Chief Justice and set up in 2001.

Although this was a major breakthrough, Peter knew that it was not enough to guarantee public confidence. He decided the center had to be located within the court premises. This was an uphill task as court premises are already congested and constantly demanding more office space from the government. However, after much negotiation, the center was given office space in the Lagos High Court premises. By establishing the LMDC within the court complex and making it court-connected, it gained needed credibility it would have had difficulty achieving on its own.

In addition to its credibility, its friendlier, informal, and participatory environment has contributed to people's willingness to have their cases brought to the "courthouse."

When their cases come before the high court, litigants are told about the LMDC. Those interested can have their cases channeled there–where settlement of the dispute without litigation is the goal. In a case in which "neutral evaluation" is chosen as the mechanism, retired judges review the case and tell the disputants what the likely outcome of the case will be should they go through the lengthy litigation process. The disputants then have the choice either to continue with litigation or to use the other mediation and arbitration alternatives available. The aim is not to replace, but to aid, litigation. As such, by having cases channeled through it, LMDC is able to help litigants determine which cases are actually suited for litigation rather than having all manner of cases go–by default–the litigation route. This LMDC alternative helps the litigants and courts save time and money. When mediation and arbitration are used in referral cases, the results are channeled back to the court to be recorded.

To spread the idea, Peter is negotiating with other state and federal courts. So far, 23 judges from other courts from around the country have visited the center to learn about the model. Further, the Ghanaian Court has also sent staff to visit, and Peter has been invited to make a presentation to the courts in Ghana and to ADR practitioners from Mali, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and the Republic of Benin. Within Nigeria, he has conducted enlightenment seminars around the country with the law schools, courts, and ADR practitioners. He recognizes, however, that spreading the process will depend heavily on the success of the Lagos pilot. To fund the project, Peter decided to invite law firms and corporate bodies to take up LMDC membership. Twenty prominent law firms were contacted to join the sponsor category. A meeting was organized where the Chief Judge of Lagos State spoke to the law firms about sponsorship. Sixteen of the 20 accepted. As sponsors, they pay an annual membership fee.

He has also made overtures to corporate bodies who are encouraged to give one-off donations. Six corporations have so far participated and been given accounts of how their donations were spent. After their donations, the LMDC board invites the corporations to become sponsors. To make the courthouse sustainable, LMDC also charges clients minimal fees for handling their cases.

One of eight children, Peter's childhood experiences had profound influences on him and to a large extent determined his career path. Two of these experiences stand out particularly for him.

The first was his unhappy family situation. His parents quarreled constantly, and though his father never physically abused his mother, the two were not particularly close. He hated the pain it brought to the family. At the age of eight or nine, as his father raged in the living room, Peter declared to himself that "no child, no mum, and indeed no family deserved to go through life this way."

The second experience was his mother's selfless sacrifice to see him and his siblings through school. She often had to sell her jewelry for them to remain in school, and most of them were clothed from some of her own garments. He recalls that the short trousers that he and his twin brother wore to school on their first day were made out of his mother's wrapper. According to Peter, she did all this and more without complaints, not only for her eight children but also for anyone she encountered. It was from her and his wife that Peter learned the values of selflessness and contribution to humanity.

Peter studied political science but did not find it fulfilling and did not see a career in it for himself. He wanted to do something of relevance to society and developed a fascination for law. In 1991 he cofounded a law firm and in 1996 launched a peace-building initiative at the firm. This initiative later resulted in the LMDC.