For the next three days, the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators, NICArb, will host its 2020 virtual annual conference and investiture, an event the organisers say, will induce a paradigm shift in people’s understanding of arbitration as a veritable tool for conflict resolution.
Announcing this in Lagos, the institute’s Registrar/Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Shola Oshodi-John, said the ground-breaking event which will hold virtually in strict compliance with safety protocols against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, is organized with technical partnership from the Arbitration Place, Canada.
The event also enjoys strong support from several international organisations like the Arbitral Women, Association for the Promotion of Arbitration in Africa (APAA), Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa (OHADA), Institute of Transnational Arbitration (ITA), the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), among others.
According to Mrs. Shola Oshodi-John, many eminent subject experts are expected to deliver papers during the three-day conference, with the theme: Making Arbitration (and ARD) Work for Africa.
Wednesday, the opening day, will feature two keynote addresses. The first address, Making Arbitration Work for Africa: Rethinking investment Treaties and Sustainable Development for Africa, will delivered by George Kahale III, Chairman, Curtis Mallet-Prevost, Cotts and Mosel LLP, Washington DC, U.S.A.
Nigeria’s legal icon, and President and Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators, Chief Afe Babalola, is scheduled to welcome participants to the event while the President of Nigeria’s Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, will be the guest of honour on the opening day.
The institute has over 4000 active members who are trained and seasonal arbitrators from various professional backgrounds. Thirty-five percent of them are non-lawyers but who are subject matter experts across their various fields in arbitration. Over time, the institute has trained over 5000 professionals also across diverse backgrounds.