In today's EVA episode, I was pleased to welcome Mrs Achere Cole, the Deputy Director/ Head of Operations of the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse (LMDC) and Secretary to the Governing Council of the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse. She holds a master’s degree in public policy and management from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London and a second master’s degree in law from the University of Lagos. She was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2003 and is a CEDR UK Accredited mediator. 

Mrs Achere has national and regional experience in building ADR mechanisms and capacity. She consulted for the Judiciary of Kenya and the International Development Law Organization on a project to support the Sustaining Judiciary Transformation Blueprint of Kenya’s Judiciary. She was an External Evaluator for a Court Annexed Pilot Project that was commissioned by the Kenya office of the IDLO and International Commission of Jurists, the Kenya Human Rights Commission and the High Court of Kenya for the family and commercial divisions of Milamani Law Courts in Nairobi, Kenya.

She was part of the pioneer staff that midwifed the establishment of the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse (LMDC) under the Negotiation and Conflict Management Group. She was a trainer, assessor and mentor for a Justice for All (British Council) project on “increasing access to mediation and legal services for poor people.” She has also provided training for Mediators and Staff of the Kaduna and Abia Multi-Door Courthouses under a World Bank assisted project to expand ADR institutions in Nigeria. Mrs Achere was part of the team that trained 37 staff of the Kano Multi-Door Courthouse to enable the KMDC to start Operations – under the Security, Justice and Growth Programme of the British Council. 

She was Head of Human Resources and Administration of Capital Partners Limited and was Workforce Assessment Team Lead as part of a team of consultants responsible for the Bank PHB Retail Strategy Implementation Project and is a trained election observer by the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Centre, Ghana.

Mrs Achere teaches Mediation and Communication courses at the LMDC and is also a Restorative Justice Trainer. She is a proficient and interventionist Mediator in fields that cut across commercial contracts, family, criminal and employment disputes.

We critically discussed the following questions:  

A.  Why Negotiation? 

B.  What are the benefits of Negotiation?

C.  What are the skills necessary for anyone to engage in Negotiation?

D.  What is your advice for potential users of Negotiation and people who want to pursue a career in Negotiation or as a Negotiator?