ABOUT MACADRI

BIOGRAPHY

Christopher Adebayo Ojo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1978 after graduating from the University of Lagos, Nigeria in 1977. He obtained LL.M from the London School of Economics, University of London in 1982 and later got admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.

Since then he has been in active Commercial law, International Law, Litigation, Mediation, Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution practice. He has acted as sole Arbitrator, member of arbitration panels, and as Counsel in numerous domestic and international arbitrations both at the International Chamber of Commerce Paris (ICC), International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes Washington DC (ICSID), the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) over the last thirty five years involving complex oil and gas, investments, infrastructure, concessions, public private partnerships, power, mining and commercial ventures. He has also acted as expert witness in international arbitrations including ICSID. He has mediated on several disputes as well.

He is a former Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, past President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), past Chairman of the Nigerian Legal Aid Council and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Nigeria Branch. Ojo was until recently a member of the United Nations International Law Commission (ILC) Geneva Switzerland, Council member of the Section on Energy and Natural Resources Law of the International Bar Association, a member of the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators, Washington, DC, a member of the Panel of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Hague, Netherlands, Alternate Chairman of UNESCO Appeals Board in Paris, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators London, President of the African Users’ Council of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA). He is currently the President of the African Arbitration Association, expert member of the Chinese International Commercial Court (CICC) and the Board of the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA).

He is a Chartered Arbitrator, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (ICMC) and the Institute of Construction Industry Arbitrators (ICIARB). He is also a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and a patron of the Nigerian Society of International Law and the International Law Association, Nigerian Branch.

He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Nigerian Journal of Arbitration and Mediation (NJAM) and African Journal of Arbitration and Mediation (AJAM). He is the co-author of The Handbook of Arbitration and ADR Practice in Nigeria and a recipient of the National Honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) for meritorious service to the nation. He has over the years spoken at many workshops, seminars and delivered numerous public lectures both within and outside Nigeria.

BIOGRAPHY

Based in The Bahamas, Bertha Mae Cooper-Rousseau, is the Managing Partner of Rousseau & Cooper Law Firm and a Door Tenant of 3 Hare Court, Temple London. She is also admitted as an attorney before Astana International Financial Centre Court in Kazakhstan. Bertha is the Honourary Counsel for the Republic of Botswana in The Bahamas.

Bertha is the founding Chair of The Bahamas Branch of The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She is widely recognized as one of The Bahamas’ leading intellect and pioneer for the development of the legislative infrastructure for international arbitration and commercial mediation, including capacity building for professionals, and the judiciary in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). She is also the founding member of Mid-Atlantic Caribbean Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute, a non-profit organization, that focuses on providing an international ADR forum for professionals in designated African and Caribbean countries.

Having been appointed by the Government of The Bahamas to serve on the Panel of Arbitrators and Conciliators of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, (one of the three institutions of the World Bank), Bertha has served on numerous Annulment ad hoc Committees that involved disputes arising between States and investors in South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. She is also on the panel of several notable international arbitration and mediation institutions such as International Centre for Dispute Resolution Cruise Seafarer Panel, (an international division of the American Arbitration Association), Shanghai Arbitration Commission, Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, British Virgin Islands International Arbitration Centre; CARIFORUM-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement and the Panel of Recognized International Market Experts in Finance.

Bertha is a Bencher of The Honourable Society of Middle Temple. She is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Botswana Institute of Arbitrators, Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators. She is Vice President of The Bahamas Chapter of Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association.

Bertha studied French at the Sorbonne and attained her Bachelor and Masters Degree in International Relations at L’Institut d’Etude des Relations Internationales in Paris. Thereafter, she studied maritime law at L’Universite de Bretagne Occidentale in Brest France. Bertha obtained a law degree with honours from the University of London in England. She is an alumni of the Institute of Women’s Entrepreneurship at Cornell University

BIOGRAPHY

PROFESSOR IKE EHIRIBE FCIArb, FAiADR, C. Arb, QDR. Barrister, Chartered Arbitrator & Accredited Mediator.

Ike was called to the Nigerian Bar (1982) and to the Bar of England and Wales (1996) by the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn. He is a Fellow (1994) of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in London and also a Chartered Arbitrator (2007). He is a Fellow of the Asian institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution (AIADR) based in Singapore;
an accredited mediator of the Academy of Experts in Gray’s Inn; as well as a CEDR Mediator in Investor – State Disputes. He is an international arbitrator and dispute resolver practising out of 7 Stones Commercial & IP Chambers based in London and is listed on the United Nations affiliated WIPO Panel of Neutrals based in Geneva. He was an officer of the African Council of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) between 2013 – 2019. He is also a member of the Investment Treaty Forum (ITF) of the British institute of International and Comparative Law (BiiCL).

He is a Visiting Professor and Fellow at the Centre for International Legal Studies (CILS) in Salzburg; a part-time Professor of Law at the School of Law, Christchurch Canterbury University, England. He is an approved tutor, trainer and assessor on the arbitration, adjudication and mediation training courses of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in London. He is one of the co – conveners of the nascent Mid-Atlantic- Caribbean Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution (M.A.C.I.A.D.R).