COMPENSATION FOR COMPULSORY LAND ACQUISITION IN BENIN CITY,NIGERIA

                                                             ABSTRACT

This study indentifies the various heads of claim in compensation, evaluates the Challenges faced by estate surveyors and the claimants in the Compensation Process and also examines the level of claimants Satisfaction with the process,with a view to enhancing the acquisition and compensation process in Nigeria.Data was collected using questionnaires distributed to estate surveying and valuation firms in Benin city.Fifty six respondents were selected using total enumeration.The data collected were analysed using simple descriptive statistics.It was discovered that the surveyed practitioners had at least HND/BSC qualifications, majority are graduate members of the professional body and more than half of the respondents have spent at least four years with the firms.The study reveals that economic trees and crops and fishing rights makes up the predominant heads of claim in the study area.The estate surveyors and the claimants are facing severe Challenges on the process of compensation in the study area,for the estate surveyors,the most pressing challenge is conservativeness in supplying information while that of the claimants is cumbersome Compensation Process.The level of satisfaction of the claimants on the compensation process is very low. Satisfaction is particularly relatively lower on the adequacy of the amount paid as compensation , mode of payment, and the order of processes involved. There is need to look into the process of compensation, especially the rates paid on agricultural properties, promptness of payment, Process of data collection and inclusion of other heads of claims that will enhance fair and adequate compensation.