0 about the author

Alternative Dispute Resolution 
The idea of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is about the search for, and application 
of, "non-conventional" peaceful methods of settling disputes and resolving conflict situations 
using the least expensive methods, and in ways that satisfy the parties, as well as ways that 
preserve relationships after a settlement might have been reached. ADR is specially meant to 
serve as an alternative to the official conventional means of settling disputes, mainly through 
litigation and the courts, but with preference for non-violence. 
The conflict resolution and transformation spectrum consists of a range of options 
employable for non-violent management of conflict. These can be classified into two, namely the 
voluntary processes, and the involuntary processes. The voluntary processes are those in which 
parties have some control over the outcome. They include fact finding, in-depth research and case 
studies, facilitation, negotiation, conciliation, mediation and brokerage. The involuntary 
processes on the other hand, are more often than not, outside the control of the parties to the 
conflict Even though they may be non-violent, the third parties who broker the process may 
sometimes hand down outcomes, which the parties have to accept either in principle or in law. 
These options include arbitration, adjudication and law enforcement (otherwise called 
crisis 
management) 
using the coercive apparatus of state. 
African Traditional Dispute Resolution 
Africa is represented by a diversity of cultural and religious practices. This diversity 
affects the approaches to dispute and conflict resolution in the traditional setting. Generally, the 
approach would tend t6 differ from the Western al~rnative dispute resolution in several respects. 
Even then, in Africa itself, the approach may also differ from one culture to another. The 
universal religions of Christianity and Islam have also impacted on the approaches used in Africa 
in the same ways they have impacted on the culture of the people. In Islamic societies, for 
instance, the religion comprehensively prescribes the ways conflicts involving believers are to 
be resolved. In that case, pre-Islamic methods of dispute resolution would be significantly eroded 
as typified by the situation in the Hausa community of northern Nigeria. 
The approaches also differ as one moves from one level of conflict to another. There are 
variations in conflicts involving property, land, family, marriage, communities, as well as those 
between Muslim parties on the one hand, and then Muslim and non-Muslim parties on the other. 

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In some African societies, the universal religions have nearly completely displaced the traditional 
methods of dispute resolution. In others, the principles of Islam and Christianity have affected 
parts of the tradition, redefined and reshaped others, and left some intact. This topic is the subject 
of another chapter of this book and need not delay us here.