TheCable

Mumini Alao, veteran Nigerian sports journalist, has been inducted as an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitration (CiArb).

Alao was inducted into the institute alongside 34 others at the gala night of the Nigeria branch of the CiArb in Lagos on Friday.

The gala night was the culmination of a three-day international conference with the title Adapting to the Future: African Perspective on Arbitration and ADR.”

At the event, 14 others were promoted as members, while eight were elevated to the rank of fellows of the institute.

CIArb is an international centre of excellence for the practice and profession of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) founded in 1915.

The organisation was granted a royal charter in the United Kingdom (UK) in 1979 and expanded to 42 branches globally.

Speaking at the induction, Akingbola Akinola, chairman of the Nigeria branch of CIArb, charged the inductees to uphold the dignity and integrity of the institute whenever they are called upon to serve.

He administered the oath of membership to the inductees and admonished them to dedicate themselves to the service of society.

On his part, Alao said the mediation and arbitration training would be an advantage in his profession as a sports journalist in Nigeria.

He added that “we need to develop a proper framework for dispute resolution without recourse to litigation at the regular courts”.

“I realised that we do not have many journalists, particularly sports journalists, who are trained arbitrators in Nigeria,” Alao said.

“Yet, we regularly have conflicts in our media and sports ecosystems that can be resolved via mediation and arbitration by people who are experienced and familiar with the issues at stake in these sectors.

“Particularly in Nigerian sports, I feel that we need to develop a proper framework for dispute resolution without recourse to litigation at the regular courts, which is frowned upon by international sports federations like FIFA.

“We need the domestic version of the international Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) that will handle local sports disputes with total independence, impartiality, and integrity and whose decisions will be respected by all stakeholders. I hope I can play some role in that regard.

“That’s one of my motivations for joining the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.”

Alao is a former group managing director and now executive consultant at Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspapers.