Arbitration is not a waiting room for litigation, NBA President tells lawyers

Badejo-Okusanya made the call at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators conference on 4 November 2026, where she expressed concern over what she described as a growing tendency among legal practitioners to approach arbitration as little more than a temporary stop before returning to court.

She said such an attitude undermined the fundamental purpose of arbitration, weakened its effectiveness and eroded confidence in its ability to function as an independent means of resolving disputes.

According to her, arbitration cannot achieve its intended objectives if lawyers approach the process as a procedural hurdle to be crossed before resorting to litigation.

She stressed that a genuine commitment to arbitration required more than simply acknowledging it as an available dispute resolution mechanism, adding that legal practitioners must respect its processes, engage with its principles and give it the opportunity to deliver the outcomes for which it was established.

“We cannot continue to speak of strengthening arbitration while approaching it with a mindset that treats litigation as the inevitable destination,” she said.

The NBA president maintained that a change in the attitude of legal practitioners was necessary for arbitration to occupy its rightful place in Nigeria’s justice delivery system.

She further noted that the future of arbitration depended not only on the strength of the country’s laws and institutions but also on the willingness of practitioners to uphold and respect the process in practice.

Badejo-Okusanya urged members of the legal profession to demonstrate greater confidence in arbitration and embrace its principles to strengthen its effectiveness as an independent dispute resolution mechanism.