Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola
yesterday inaugurated the State Citizens’
Mediation Centre, tagged O’Mediation.
He said the centre would promote peace and
justice in the society.
Speaking at the ceremony, which was
attended by top government officials, senior
civil servants and traditional rulers,
Aregbesola said the centre would have branch
offices in the nine federal constituencies.
He said the objective is for the centre to
resolve 60 to 70 per cent of disputes and
leave complex civil and criminal matters to
the courts.
The governor said Alternative Dispute
Resolution (ARD) ensures that only about 15
per cent of cases end up in court.
He said in developed countries, most cases are
resolved through ARD mechanisms, such as
conciliation, mediation, arbitration and pre-
trial conciliation.
Aregbesola said: “When we deny landlords
and tenants; creditors and debtors;
complainants and respondents the
opportunity to ventilate their grievances in a
structured manner and with a view to
mutually acceptable resolution, we would have
an explosion of court cases.
“People would be frustrated with the judicial
system, as cases may not be attended to with
the speed the parties’ desire. This is aside the
possible resort to self-help, which always
leads to a break-down of law and order.”
Explaining that mediation is not alien to the
Yoruba and African cultures, he said village
and palace squares have been known to be
venues of dispute settlement.
The governor said this manner of peaceful
resolution of conflict is in tandem with the
Omoluabi ethos that is being espoused by his
administration, explaining that the concept
goes to the root of “our very existence”.
He said: “It is what we are as a race and it
transcends our dialectal and communal
boundaries as Yoruba people. It is the essence
of the totality of our culture, beliefs, values
and more.
“Even in this modern age, the most elegantly
drafted Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) and other legal documents creating
contractual obligations always have the
arbitration clause. The reason for this is not
far-fetched. It is the best way to resolve a
dispute.
“As a matter of fact, the Citizens’ Mediation
Centre will not charge money for services
rendered. Its services are free. It also helps
parties to adopt a problem-solving approach
to find a win-win outcome.
“When a dispute is resolved through this
process, there is no winner or loser as the
parties agree to the solution. But in litigation,
there is always a loser and even the winner
goes back home exhausted physically,
mentally and financially.”
Commissioner for Regional Integration and
Special Duties Ajibola Basiru said: “The centre
we are inaugurating today will remove the
bureaucratic bottlenecks encountered in
conventional courts.”
The Acting Chief Judge, Mrs. Adepele Ojo,
said: “Mediation occurs when aggrieved
parties agree to amicable settlements. This is
a good development. Courts will have fewer
cases to deal with because some issues would
be resolved at the mediation centre.”
House of Assembly Speaker Najeem Salaam
hailed the governor on the establishment of
the centre.
He said it would strengthen the peaceful co-
existence among the people.
Salaam said: “I have been an advocate of
peaceful conflict resolution without
intervention of a court or the neck-breaking
cost of litigation. With the inauguration of
O’Mediation, the poor would no longer be
marginalised in the dispensation of justice.”
He urged the mediators to be fair in their
duties.




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