Registrar of the Council for Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) Mr Mike Jukwe, has urged the Federal Government to create an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) structure in Nigerian ports.
Jukwe, who was represented bythe Executive Secretary, Nigerian Institute of Freight Forwarders Mr Valentino Buoro, said this in Lagos at the Fifth Practical Maritime Dispute Resolution Seminar.
Registrar of the Council for Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) Mr Mike Jukwe, has urged the Federal Government to create an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) structure in Nigerian ports.
Jukwe, who was represented bythe Executive Secretary, Nigerian Institute of Freight Forwarders Mr Valentino Buoro, said this in Lagos at the Fifth Practical Maritime Dispute Resolution Seminar.
Jukwe said in a paper titled: “Dispute Resolution in the Ports, a Regulator's Perspective’’, that ADR could help produce an acceptable result in the shortest possible time.
“It will also help to reduce costs and minimise stress on the parties. This is what justice is all about,’’ he said.
According to him, in the maritime sector there is always one dispute to settle and this could be settled through the ADR instead of the regular courts.
“It is a common occurrence that disputes may arise between shippers and consignees; consignees and insurers; and consignees and freight forwarders.
“The obligation of our profession is to serve as healers of human conflict. To fulfil this obligation, we must have the right mechanisms,’’ he said.
Jukwe urged the government to give a directive that its establishments should adopt ADR processes in the resolution of disputes.
“The process is faster, flexible, consensual and above all seeks to maintain and promote business and personal relationships,’’ he said.
Chief Gbola Akinola, President, Maritime Arbitration Association of Nigeria in his address, said that the two-day seminar was meant to provide sound arbitration and ADR practices in the maritime sector.
“The seminar will address the different types of claims which can arise at the ports.
“To have a forum for settling commercial disputes through ADR is essential to the development of the Nigerian economy,’’ he said.
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