Evaluating Stakeholder Satisfaction with Land Registration Services in Benin City

Abstract

The status of land as a key societal resource demands its proper management. Fundamental to this, is land registration, a critical institutional mechanism for securing tenure, facilitating investment and promoting urban development. The mechanism will be effective if awareness is adequate and challenges minimal, thereby promoting user trust and user satisfaction. The aim of this study is to evaluate stakeholder satisfaction with land registration services in Benin City, Edo State, with the objectives of assessing land owners' and land professionals' awareness level of land registration system in Benin City and evaluating the user satisfaction levels of landowners and land professionals in land registration services in Benin City. The target population comprises landowners and land professionals (surveyors, lawyers, town planners, and estate agents). Employing a descriptive survey design, data were collected from 120 respondents comprising 70 landowners and 50 land professionals selected through purposive and stratified random sampling. Structured questionnaires were administered and data analysed using descriptive statistics, mean rating, and a one-sample t-test. Findings reveal that both groups perceived land registration process as cumbersome, time-consuming, and beset by bureaucratic inefficiency, corruption, and high cost. The mean perception score for landowners (x̄ = 2.14, SD = 0.73) and professionals (x̄ = 2.31, SD = 0.61) on overall process of effectiveness were below the benchmark of 3.0, indicating general dissatisfaction. The t-test results (t = -8.64, p < 0.001) confirm statistically negative significant perception. The study concludes that stakeholder satisfaction with land registration services in Benin City depends largely on efficiency, transparency, accessibility, cost, and timeliness. It also recommends digitalisation of land records, public enlightenment campaigns, reduction of registration fees, and strengthening of anti-corruption measures to improve the land registration system in Benin City.