Former Deputy Director, Citizens Mediation Centre (CMC), Mrs. Olubunmi Adenike Adesomoju, has been appointed as the new Director, Office of the Public Defender (OPD).
This is according to a memo signed by the Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary Ministry of Justice, Ms. Titilayo Shitta-bey on Tuesday. Her appointment was said to take immediate effect.
The Permanent Secretary said Adesomoju’s deployment became imperative following the appointment of the former Director OPD, Dr. Babajide Martins as Director Public Prosecutions, DPP, Ministry of Justice.
Adesomoju had her primary and secondary education at Command Children School Sabo, Yaba, Lagos and Command Secondary School Ipaja respectively.
She proceeded to Baptist Academy, Obanikoro for her A-levels in 1988/89. She graduated from the Ogun State University in 1994 with a Bachelor in Laws degree (B.L) and L.L.B in 1995, when she was called to the Nigerian Bar.
She proceeded for a Master in Laws (L.L.M) post graduate program at the University of Lagos in 2014. Adesomoju joined the State Public Service in 1999 and worked at the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency.
Thereafter, she worked in several Directorates of the Ministry of Justice such as Directorates of Public Prosecutions, Civil Litigation and the Citizens’ Mediation Centre, where she was the Deputy Director before her recent posting.
Adesomoju is an Associate member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria, ICSA; member of the Institute of Mediators and Conciliators of Nigeria; a member of Nigerian Bar Association, and also a member of the International Bar Association.
She has attended several trainings, seminars, webinars and workshops in Criminal Advocacy, Public Prosecutions, Mediation and Arbitration Practices both locally and internationally.
Sunday Telegraph gathered that Mrs. Adesomoju is an advocate of peace in spheres of existence. She believes that cogent communication is the vehicle of conflict resolution.
Last year, when the Lagos State Citizens Mediation Centre (CMC) trained some staff of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA) on mediation practices; she presented a paper titled: “Mediation and Alternative Disputes Resolution Spectrum”, where she affirmed that a mediator is a driver of mediation who employs all relevant techniques and skills to help the disputing parties achieve a resolution they desire.
According to her, the techniques will enable a mediator to identify the problems and provide a solution in such a way that none of the parties involved would feel cheated with the resolution made.
While explaining the aims of mediation, Adesomoju said the purpose of mediation is to settle disputes arising from conflicts, highlighting poor communication, self-interest, lack of compromise and desire for power among others as major causes of conflict.
She urged mediators to thoroughly address the causes of the conflict and provide a lasting solution to the problems for an amicable resolution of disputes. No doubt, Adesomoju would function fully in her new capacity.
