The Senate had reached a consensus to abolish age limitations in job advertisements in Nigeria.
The senator representing Benue South senatorial district, Patrick Abba Moro, sponsored the motion on the floor of the Senate earlier this week, noting that it is pathetic that a graduate in Nigeria who could not get a job upon graduation and decided to go back to school with the hope that a higher qualification or a second or Master’s degree could give him a better employment opportunity is thrown into a career paradox when upon completion of his Master’s, he comes out to find that he is now above the age of employment and therefore not employable.
Moro maintained that such discrimination is in contravention of Chapter 4, Section 42 (2), of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, drawing the attention of senators to the provisions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) that prohibit age placement in the advertisement of job opportunities.
He posited that discrimination by age bracket has denied lots of potential that would have contributed positively to the world economy, insisting that Nigeria cannot be different.
The lawmaker stressed that at age 30, Nigerians can still serve in the National Youth Service Corps, describing it as ironic that some establishments consider people over 30 unemployable, a development he said is in clear breach of applicants’ fundamental human rights.
Reacting to this, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, the Senate adopted a resolution calling on the Labour Ministry to redraft policies abolishing age limitations in job advertisements.
Credit: Punch Newspaper
