Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, on Tuesday, inaugurated the Enugu State Multi-Door CourtHouse building.
Performing the commissioning at the ESMDC premises, Independence layout, Enugu, Ugwuanyi, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Mrs Cecilia Ezeilo, said due process was followed in the construction of the building .
He said that the ESMDC is an alternative mechanism to enable people in dispute, have access to justice.
In his remarks, Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Greg Nnaji, said that the documents for the construction of the ESMDC building was brought before the State Executives at the first quarter of 2021 and it was subjected to due process and within a very short time, the exco gave approval, contract was awarded and the project was executed within six months.
“Your Excellency, in keeping with your policy since 2016, your policy for a start -to -finish, this is one of the deliverables in your government. For six months, this project was built.
He said that the building is made up of various sizes of Mediation rooms, conventional Court rooms, offices, office of the chairman of the Governing Council, Court Registry, admin. Office, ADR Advocacy, ADR operations 160 multi -purpose seater hall, tea/ Cafeteria, secretary’s office and general rest room.
Nnaji said that the edifice is well located, close to the Executive and the legislative houses and it occupies 3,200 square meters.
“‘This structure would provide a kind of unconventional court proceedings that is second to none in the South-East”, he said.
In her speech, the retiring Chief Judge of Enugu State, Hon. Justice Ngozi Priscillia Emehelu, thanked God for making her dream come true.
She said that the idea of a beffiting edifice to house the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) programme of Enugu State was mooted as a wish which she had desired to accomplish during her tenure as a Chief Judge.
According to her, the foundation of the edifice was laid in April 2021. The “building comprises of 250-seater hall, General and Private offices, Mediation and Arbitration rooms, a Conference room, a Neutrals’ lounge, an Archive,a. carteen, Tea room and Rest room facilities.”
Emehelu disclosed that the inauguration of the building will mark a milestone in the three-year existence of ESMDC which was established by the Enugu State Multi-Door CourtHouse Law 2018.
She explained that “The idea of Multi-Door CourtHouse concept as a Dispute Resolution vehicle to supplement litigation within the Justice system of Enugu State was conceived, with the support of stakeholders. They embarked on engaging the Negotiation and Conflict Management Group(NCMG) to put the structures of the programm on grounds.
” Now in three years of its operations, the ESMDC under the leadership of it’s Governing Council, had built up Alternative Dispute Resolution in Enugu State and maintained a corps of Professional Mediators and Albitrators for the provision of ADR services to disputants and Litigants in the State.
” In the online dispute resolution , services have also ensured that disputants outside Enugu State and in diaspora have been able to access it’s services and participate in mediation sessions without the necessity of a physical session .
She recounted that , ” In the year 2019, in less than a year after it’s inauguration, the ESMDC introduced the Enugu State Settlement Week-A week set aside for cases to be referred enmasse by the Courts to the ESMDC for ADR intervention.
“In August 2021, the ESMDC Centre ,Nsukka became operational and the first District Settlement week was organised covering the judicial Districts of Nsukka, Obollo-Afor, Enugu-Ezike, Ibagwa-Aka, Uzo-Uwani, Ette, Ogbede, Orba and Ikem.”, she said.
Justice Emehelu expressed gratitude to the governot of Enugu State,Rt. Hon.( Dr.) Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for his support, the management of the ESMDC and all the judicial families for their support and encouragement.
She said she was happy and felt fulfilled that, the ESMDC building is in place . ” To the people of Enugu State and the region as a Centre for peace, harmony, the resolution of conflicts has come full cycle”.
She charged the Governing Council and management of ESMDC to drive the mandate of the ESMDC aggressively and in keeping with the Law which established the program.
To ensure that they strive to achieve their vision of being the ADR hub of the region and a veritable centre for the training of ADR capacity and research.
“That you strive to achieve national and global acclaim for your professionalism in the field of ADR .
” That you expand your reach into all the judicial divisions of Enugu State Judiciary and lastly, that you serve the people of Enugu State efficiently and passionately”, Emehelu said.
Earlier, the Chairman , ESMDC, Governing Council, Hon. Justice Centius . C. Nweze., said that” the ESMDC Governing Council was inaugurated on 4th January 2021 with the mandate to provide leadership for this Alternative Dispute Resolution programme of the Enugu State Judiciary.
“ADR, as we must all know from the developments taking place globally and in the court system in Nigeria, has become a standard way in which individuals, communities, organisations and businesses resolve their dispute without recourse to litigation or as part of the court procrss .
” This fast growing phenomenon that has occasioned the establishment of court ADR programmes in the High Court, Federal High Court, Iindustrial Court, Court of Appeals and Supreme Court has changed the way in which justice is done in our clime”, Hon. Nweze said.
According to him ,” the establishment of ESMDC in 2018 and the construction in 2021 of this edifice to ensure that the requisite and appropriate facilities were provided for it’s operations are definitely in keeping with these trends. He assured that ,” the ESMDC will seek to achieve and maintain a high level of efficiency in its case management procedures and a high level of professionalism in the delivery of qualitative solutions for disputants in the dispute in which it has intervened.
He added that the “ESMDC is the vehicle of the judicial system to decongest the court docket through the speedy and efficient disposal of court referred matters. ” Honorable Justice Nweze therefore called for the support of all stakeholders in the state to drive the ESMDC mission to provide cost effective speedy and user- friendly ADR services to disputants and it’s vision to become the ADR hub of the region.
He thanked Ugwuanyi for his support to ESMDC, saying that, “Underscoring the whole philosophy that peace breeds prosperity is the fact that in a season where insecurity and lawlessness have become the order of the day , this beautiful edifice will become a symbol of the quest for peace and justice in Enugu State.”
