Osarieme Ezekiel is the Managing Partner at Oakwell Partners, a Commercial and Dispute Resolution Law Firm.
She is a Commercial Lawyer, Corporate Governance Consultant, Debt Recovery Practitioner, Mediator, Dispute Resolution Practitioner, Trainer and Human Capacity Consultant, as well as an Investment Advisor, with over thirty years experience advising on various public sector, international and local transactions.
Ms. Ezekiel has held several strategic positions in different sectors of major Financial Institutions in Nigeria, comprising Treasury, Marketing, Credit, Public Sector, Legal, Company Secretarial, Compliance, Administration and Corporate Affairs. At various times during her banking career, she headed Naira Treasury, Legal, Debt Recovery, Administration and Commercial Banking. She was Company Secretary/Legal Adviser in two Commercial Banks.
Osarieme obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree from the University of Benin in 1984, the LL.B, with honours from Lagos State University in 1989, a Masters in Business Administration (1999) and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1990.
Osarieme is a passionate advocate of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and is a CEDR (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution) UK accredited Mediator. She mediates in commercial and civil disputes, with particular expertise in the area of financial services, construction, power, financial services, family, oil & gas, employment, real estate, telecommunications and community. She is also certified by the International Mediation Institute (IMI). She is on the panel of Neutrals of the Lagos Multi-Door Court House (LMDC), the Enugu State Multi-Door Courthouse (ESMDC), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Dispute Resolution Panel of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
Ms. Ezekiel is on the training Faculty of the Lagos Multi-Door Court House (LMDC) and is a Standing Conference of Mediation Advocates (SCMA) Mediation Advocacy Trainer.
Osarieme is a member of SCMA UK and Nigeria, the Civil Mediation Council, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators UK, as well as Nigeria and has arbitrated in privatisation disputes.
She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Construction Arbitrators.
Osarieme was a Consultant in the LMDC/British Council UN J4A Project for capacity building and monitoring mediators, to ensure access to justice for indigent people.
She has attended several advanced training programmes in mediation, including the Advanced Mediation Skills Training at the Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine University, California.
She is frequently invited to speak on ADR at national Conferences, Workshops and consults with Organisations, to design as well as put in place a dispute resolution policy.