It is a usual practice by recruiting organizations to specify age requirements as part of their eligibility criteria. In most vacancies the maximum age for entry level applicants is usually pegged at 27/28 and in some ridiculous circumstances 24/25. After consulting the 1999 Constitution I discovered that this practice is unconstitutional as it is a form of discrimination.
Section 42 subsection 2 states that “No citizen of Nigeria shall be subjected to any disability or deprivation merely by reason of the circumstances of his birth”. Ladies and gentlemen your date of birth and hence your age is a circumstance of birth so also is your sex and ethnicity. Employers have been getting away with this constitutional violation because nobody has challenged the practice rather people go about doctoring their ages so as to meet up with these ridiculous age requirements.

The following are the only jobs that the constitution has placed age restrictions and these jobs are mostly electoral office positions;
1) President ; must be 40 years old...section 131 subsection 2b
2) Vice president; same as that of the president... section 142 subsection 2
3) Senator; must be 35 years old...section 65 subsection 1a
4) House of representative; must be 30 years old... section 65 subsection 1b
5) Governor ; must be 35 years old...section 177 subsection 1b
6) &nbspeputy Governor; ; same as that of the Governor... section 187 subsection 2
7) Members of the house of assembly; must be 30 years old... section 106 subsection 1b

Other jobs include state commissioners and special advisers to governors (which have the same requirements as those of members of the house of assemble) and ministers and special advisers to the president of the federation (which have the same requirements as those of the House of Representatives).

Ladies and gentlemen, taking into account our erratic educational system with its numerous strikes, most students especially those in federal and state higher institutions end up graduating in their mid twenties and when you then factor in the one year NYSC and the waiting period of prospecting for jobs (which could range from months to years) you will notice that a significant number of graduates would have exceeded the maximum age limits placed by prospective employers.

Dear naija jobbers, the wind of change is blowing and we should not just sit and watch our rights been trampled upon and I think now is the time to act. In developed countries you will be prosecuted if you dare place age requirements for any job vacancy.

I do not want to lie about my age because it is not a crime and I shouldn’t be made to suffer for it.

God bless you all.


http://bishopjoe..com/2013/08/age-requirement-is-unconstitutional.html

you are on point, but i guess a lot of people will disagree with you. federal and state higher institution are not helping matters at all.

avalontony: you are on point, but i guess a lot of people will disagree with you. federal and state higher institution are not helping matters at all.

on wat ground do u thnk they wil disagree wth my opinion

bishopjoe02:
or wat ground do u thnk they wil disagree wth my opinion

Smh for the system

The system is really messed up. I believe we will get there one day.

We aLl have to stand up and stop this ridiculous act of employers who put up age barriers when sEeking to employ citizens of 9ja...........

Its highly unconstitutional........

.......

We can only achieve dis through unity, how i wish all jobbers can b united and say no to al dis bad practices.

bishopjoe02: We can only achieve dis through unity, how i wish all jobbers can b united and say no to al dis bad practices.

You're correct bro.....but just how do we go about it......

If you ask me...I'd say REVOLUTION!!!!.......

If govt knows firm are unconstitutional in their employment practices then govt should compete with them and mop up the unemployment market, and provide jobs. If they can t do this they leave us @ the mercy of private firms so they should shut up and do what they should do.

nice post. age is just a number, what matters is your intellectual maturity. employers should be concerned with ones potential and not the age

It is considered discrimination in United kingdom to use age as a yardstick for employment. (UK equity law)

bishopjoe02: We can only achieve dis through unity, how i wish all jobbers can b united and say no to al dis bad practices.

So you want to float association of united jobless nigerians

It can also be the biggest political party in africa

Izon-tubo:


You're correct bro.....but just how do we go about it......

If you ask me...I'd say REVOLUTION!!!!.......

Yes broda REVOLUTION. But d quetion here is dat who's gonna lead

Hmmmm!!!

Well NNPC, a government agency is guilty of this crime and that says a lot if you intend to sue in a Nigerian court. However, other private firms like KPMG have run foul of this law and suing them abroad can cause a change.

However, I would be surprised if this will do much because all the company can do is open a recruitment portal, ask all applicants to apply there and simply delete all applications with undesired birth dates. To prove you were discriminated based on age in a court of law is difficult at graduate entry except there is insider help which is also unlikely.

Therefore, whilst I think this is a good move, I also feel it's effect would be pointless.

Goto court! Sue a firm you know is in constant violation of this. When you win, it becomes law!

That's the way to set the ball rolling on this kind of issue. Anything else from pressure group to street protest would only end up making headline(like it has on NL) and never achieve anything.

And the revolution has just started, how? By copying and pasting this article on your Facebook wall, WhatsApping /pinging it to ur contacts by so doing, you have participated in the revolution and I believe they will still pass the information across...

Yes o, but no trouble aluta anything. How do we call attention of the power that be into it so they could revisit or emphasize it? Just the other day, I was in an interview and the interviewer practically turned her nose up for us the 'above age limit' interviewees. She relegated us to marketing and the younguns to C&T. Imagine, I only turned thirty in may and they are making it seem like the retirement age. God help us.

Lol.. Funny thread

I think first of all, d legal practioners in d house here should start dis war for us to follow. Many jobbers will be afraid to join without proper foundation, as they stand d chance of not been employed as well after d fight or whatever name u chose to give it. If d law takes it up, we can then find a solid ground to stand on. Becos as job seeker, fighting ur supposed employer without proper foundation and hope of winning at last as in a country like naija where anything is possible, u'd be surprised things might get worse after d rally cos dis country has made it clear dat d more money u possess, d more power u weld. Imo tho

Truly constitution says so but our is in non performing state as in idle........................until our leaders start following the constitution then private firm will do as as the constitution state

Hmmmm,ur on point.But,if u can't beat them,Join them in d age cheat.I have 3 difrent birth certificates.One for bank jobs,One for uniform jobs(Military n paramilitary) and the other for civil service jobs.Thanks to N.E.C.O for not exposing ma real age

bishopjoe02: It is a usual practice by recruiting organizations to specify age requirements as part of their eligibility criteria. In most vacancies the maximum age for entry level applicants is usually pegged at 27/28 and in some ridiculous circumstances 24/25. After consulting the 1999 Constitution I discovered that this practice is unconstitutional as it is a form of discrimination.
Section 42 subsection 2 states that “No citizen of Nigeria shall be subjected to any disability or deprivation merely by reason of the circumstances of his birth”. Ladies and gentlemen your date of birth and hence your age is a circumstance of birth so also is your sex and ethnicity. Employers have been getting away with this constitutional violation because nobody has challenged the practice rather people go about doctoring their ages so as to meet up with these ridiculous age requirements.

The following are the only jobs that the constitution has placed age restrictions and these jobs are mostly electoral office positions;
1) President ; must be 40 years old...section 131 subsection 2b
2) Vice president; same as that of the president... section 142 subsection 2
3) Senator; must be 35 years old...section 65 subsection 1a
4) House of representative; must be 30 years old... section 65 subsection 1b
5) Governor ; must be 35 years old...section 177 subsection 1b
6) &nbspeputy Governor; ; same as that of the Governor... section 187 subsection 2
7) Members of the house of assembly; must be 30 years old... section 106 subsection 1b

Other jobs include state commissioners and special advisers to governors (which have the same requirements as those of members of the house of assemble) and ministers and special advisers to the president of the federation (which have the same requirements as those of the House of Representatives).

Ladies and gentlemen, taking into account our erratic educational system with its numerous strikes, most students especially those in federal and state higher institutions end up graduating in their mid twenties and when you then factor in the one year NYSC and the waiting period of prospecting for jobs (which could range from months to years) you will notice that a significant number of graduates would have exceeded the maximum age limits placed by prospective employers.

Dear naija jobbers, the wind of change is blowing and we should not just sit and watch our rights been trampled upon and I think now is the time to act. In developed countries you will be prosecuted if you dare place age requirements for any job vacancy.

I do not want to lie about my age because it is not a crime and I shouldn’t be made to suffer for it.

God bless you all.


http://bishopjoe..com/2013/08/age-requirement-is-unconstitutional.html

It might be more informative if you showed us a constitutional provision that prevents any employer from discriminating against any job-seeking Nigerian on the basis of age. Else, there is no point to your argument.

Aromas:

Yes broda REVOLUTION. But d quetion here is dat who's gonna lead

Getting leaders will not be a problem, the greatest problem is the finance.

There are valid reasons for placing limits on job eligibility based on AGE. it is mostly a HR decision but there are some guiding principles

1: In a competitive work-place, you expect the young employees to aspire to positions at the Top-Level. It is a career incentive and a people-centric HR strategy. This way you maximize your human capital to an age range where the employee can dis-engaged and enter similar high-placed positions in other endeavors. You cannot have that much of a career plan at Age 30-40 applying for an entry-level job.

2: In most organizations (especially Financial Institutions), you are a Manager after 8-10 years work experience .. that is like 25-35 years of age. You cannot have a 35-40 year old man working under you and expect to drive him as you do other in-experienced hands under you. He may flare-up and start asking you how old you are, or can't you at least respect his grey hairs. such terse workplace situations are to be avoided. It is sad, but the economy does not favor older persons in place of younger ones especially when work demands you look up to one young brash manager.

3: Health Insurance is also a factor, Young means less likely to have ailments that affect us as we get older say from 30+ and above. It is a period where you can still instill some healthy habits and pay less on BUPA and other Health insurance schemes.

it is a bad practice

While I urge the lawyers in the house to adequately interprete that section of the constitution, I will say that it is high time this issue be addressed in this country.

A friend was invited for an aptitude test by one of those troubled banks when he was 27. He passed the test and was invited for interviews subsequently. The last stage of the interview took months to come and when he attended, he was given the shocker of his life; he had turned 28 and as such was told he no longer meets the age requirement for graduate trainee position for the bank.

Sometimes, I wonder what those senators really do daily while teaming youths are deprived of their rights and have their dreams dashed due to bad policies and non-challant attitudes of our "leaders".

I think the constitution stipulates minimum age limits and not maximum as claimed by the person initiating this topic. I stand to be corrected though

Okkk

If you do not know pls do not assert. Even the FGN has age restriction in their employment. The service rules of the public service says you can not be employed for any post over the age of 50.So be guided and not dissipate ur energy of a non-issue.