The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday resolved to abolish age limitations in job advertisements.
The resolution was reached after Senator Patrick Abba Moro,the senator representing Benue South senatorial district, sponsored the motion on the floor of the Senate presided over by Senator Godswiill Akpabio, the Senate President.
Presenting the motion he said “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 by the sole reason of his age,”
Moro said such discrimination is in contravention of Chapter 4, Section 42 (2), of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
While drawing the attention of senators to the provisions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) that prohibit age placement in the advertisement of job opportunities, Moro said 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.
He explained 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.
The Lawmaker called on the Federal Ministry of Labour, Employment, and Productivity to draw up policies that would enthrone equality without delay.
At the end of debate on the motion , the Senate adopted a resolution calling on the Ministry of Labour and Employment to redraft policies abolishing age limitations in job advertisements.
