Landholders' Satisfaction with Compulsory Acquisition and Compensation Process in Bauchi, Nigeria

© 2020 The Authors. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License Abstract. This research aims to assess Landholder's satisfaction with the compulsory acquisition and compensation process in Bauchi to identify areas of weakness in the process and propose areas of improvement. The study adopted the quantitative approach and data collected through questionnaire survey from 327 landholders affected by the compulsory acquisition and compensation exercise by the Bauchi State Government. The data collected were subjected to descriptive with mean ranking, frequency distribution. The study revealed that landholders were very satisfied before the process of compulsory acquisition, during the process of mandatory purchase, they were also happy. Still, during the compensation process, they were very dissatisfied. It recommended that the Government should make the process of compensation more transparent.


INTRODUCTION
The author [13] opined that the way governments in most developing countries exercise this power undermined tenure security and little or no compensation are usually paid; this results in a negative effect on equity and transparency. The author [7] suggested that lack of adequate, fair and just compensation results in prevalent resistance to land acquisition. The author [14] agreed with Kakulu's view and stated that inadequacy in the provisions of the laws and delay in payment of compensation are the significant reasons for the inequity of the compensation practice in Nigeria. The compensation paid is usually compounded where the process is implemented poorly, which led to the Government's resisting compulsory land acquisition.
Thus, the Landholder's have no control over the situation since the Government has the right to acquire the property compulsorily without their consents for the overriding public interest [10,18]. According to [3] the amount paid as compensation is usually determined by the government agency without much consultation with affected claimants. Where a property is compulsorily acquired, it is typically the government agency that makes inquiries into the value of such land and determines the already identified government principles' compensation value.
Thus, there is the likelihood that the computed compensation value may be below the expectation of the claimants [6]. Since the acquisition directly affects the Landholder's, the exercise should be geared towards their benefit and satisfaction [2].
It is against this background this study seeks to explore the perception of Landholder's affected by compulsory acquisition of land in Durum, Bauchi to ascertain their level of satisfaction with the exercise.
This research's scope is restricted to the perception of Landholder's affected by compulsory acquisition of land and compensation paid for the development of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa International Airport and Airforce Base, which is located along Bauchi-Kano road. It does not include any other compulsorily acquired land in Bauchi. This research is limited to the Landholder's whose land was compulsorily acquired for the said project to override the public interest in the study area.
The statutory provisions of the Land Use Act of 1978 to compulsory acquisition and Compensation in Nigeria has raised several issues, and concerns among stakeholders in the administration of land especially such compulsory acquisition are done for urban properties. Inadequate compensation paid as stipulated under section 29 of the Land Use Act of 1978 is grossly inadequate to the payment of just, fair and adequate compensation. It restricts the number of heads of claims and nonpayment for bare land undeveloped land [8].
The author [5] noted that most affected Landholder's usually expected to receive compensation generally in monetary terms to restore them to where they were before the dispossession such as to buy new land, build a new structure, and cater to others losses as a result of the relocation. He concluded that the Land Use Act only provides compensation, far from being "adequate".
Non-inclusion of just compensation principle: under section 29 of the Land Use Act of 1978, which provides for the payment of compensation does not mention the code of just term compensation or value to the landowner. The focus of "just compensation" aims at providing disposed groups with adequate financial compensation.
Basis and method of investment: the origin and method usually employed do not recognise the value which the property can command in an open market but is based on replacing the improvements and crops. The predetermined rate to determine the depreciated replacement cost of buildings can hardly yield a just and adequate compensation to assist Landholders in replacing their construction, resulting in inequity [1].
Undefined interest in land: usually more than one part may exist in landed property, for example, freehold and leasehold interest in land, thus when compulsorily acquiring land it is usually the interests that exist on such land is being received. The Land Use Act assumed compensation for the earned interest should be made to only the occupier of the ground, and it is the doctrine that land title is vested in the governor. Thus there exist multiplicities of interest.

METHODOLOGY
The quantitative research approach is adopted in this research due to the nature of the research problem that involves the Effects of Landholder's awareness and involvement in compulsory acquisition and compensation paid in Bauchi. According to [4] quantitative research approach is the best research approach when the problem is deterministic and reflects the fact that causes determine the outcome. Thus the use of the quantitative system in the research was justifiable. The author [4] opined that the quantitative approach shows the relationship between variables aimed at testing theories.
Thus quantitative methods involve collecting data, numerically analysing and interpreting the data. The descriptive survey design was adopted for this research because it generates answers to research problems [12,17].
The target population is derived from landholders whose lands were compulsorily acquired for Airport and Airforce Base's development in Bauchi situated in Durum village.
For this research, the sample frame consists of 1128 landholders for Airport and 985 landholders for Air Force Base, a total of 2113 landholders (Ministry of Lands and Survey Bauchi) whose land was compulsorily acquired and compensation paid in Durum.
This study's target population was all the Landholder's affected by the compulsory acquisition and compensation exercise by the Bauchi State Government. A population consists of a group that shares common characteristics from which individuals or units are chosen out of the study population [11]. This research's sample size will be selected using the [9] sample table.

RESULTS
The research conducted will be analysed using different types of test to achieve the desired objectives. Objectives one-three will be analysed using the mean ranking for the variables. The descriptive test will be carried out to ensure the mean will be entered correctly to accomplish this. For objective four regression analysis will establish the effect between the research constructs, using the SPSS version 21 software package to carry out the study. However, the difference in descriptors, the construct have a uniform mean ranking scale. Accordingly, the ranks were numbered between level one (1), which was the lowest level to level five (5), which was the highest level. This study adopted the mean score decision interval based on the works [16] from which the following interval decisions were deduced (1-1.80)=Very low; (1.81-2.60)=Low; (2.61-3.40)=Moderate; (3.41-4.20)=High; (4.21-5.0)=Very high (Table 1).  [15]. The author [4] opined that there is another validity: criterion validity and content validity; construct validity is the overriding objective. It has focused on whether the scores serve a useful purpose and have positive consequences when used in practice. For this research, construct validity was adopted.
As revealed in table 2 above landholders were very satisfied with the acquisition notice issued to them. Landholders were satisfied with the process of compensation for the compulsorily acquired land. Amount to be paid as compensation reflects their expectations, with their assets' actual computation before payment. Amount to be paid as compensation for economic trees and land was adequate with a mean score of 3.4926, 3.2667, 3.2296, 3.1889 and 3.1407 ranked 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th respectively.
Landholders were very dissatisfied with the promptness of compensation paid and with the balance paid with mean score 1.9963 and 1.4037 ranked 13th and 14th respectively. The result revealed that the level of landholders' satisfaction with the compulsory acquisition and compensation process is very high, high, moderate, low and very low.

CONCLUSION
This study aimed to assess Landholder's awareness and involvement in the compulsory acquisition of land on their satisfaction with compensation process in Bauchi to identify areas of weaknesses in the process. The study came when the Government compulsorily acquires land for overriding public interest to provide infrastructural facilities.