ONLINE DISPUTE RESOLUTION: ANOTHER VOICE IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC DIALOGUE IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Despite being the largest ADR community in Africa, Nigeria still experience the flight of domestic arbitration to foreign
jurisdictions. This implies a huge loss of revenue to the Nigerian government and her ADR practitioners and ultimately threatens the growth of ADR in Nigeria. To improve the ease of doing business and impact positively on investment dispute resolution in Nigeria, Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) plays a pivotal role. The importance of ODR cannot be better felt at any other time than the Covid – 19 pandemic period. As the corona virus redefined human spatial existence, the internet displayed its capacity to build a global village, where sundry human activities could continue unabated despite movement restriction. As mankind groaned in the hotchpotch effects of the pandemic, the cyberspace offered a potpourri of relieves as reflected in e-commerce, ebanking, online schooling and lots more. All these also generated e-disputes to be resolved via the (ODR) mechanism. This paper interrogates ODR as a catalyst that can promote efficient domestic and international arbitration in Nigeria, during the Covid-19 pandemic period and beyond, to enable the country maintain its lead as the arbitration hub in Africa. Again, the paper investigates whether the rules of arbitration seat and applicable law in traditional ADR applies to ODR. The various weaknesses of ODR did not escape from the author’s radar. On the whole, it was found that ODR is a beacon of hope, that could create an efficient dispute resolution regime in Nigeria, provided its weaknesses are addressed.