Senate has urged the Federal Government to raise age limit usually attached to job vacancies in the country.
The call by the Senate followed its consideration of a motion titled: “Urgent need to review age barrier during recruitment and employment” sponsored by Senator Ibrahim Gobir (Sokoto East).
Citing order 42 and 52 of the Senate Standing Rules, Gobir noted that recruitment requirements of Federal Government Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) and other private bodies which set age barriers “inadvertently excludes and marginalizes skillful and competent prospective applicants from participating in such exercises.”
He said;
Due to the high unemployment rate in the country, many graduates spend up to 10 years seeking employment and this puts them in a disadvantaged position by no fault of their own. Many individuals resort to falsifying their age all in a bid to fall within the required age limit for them to be gainfully employed.
This development, where a person believes he is unemployable, can lead them to embracing criminal activities and further increase the growing crime rate and insecurity in the country.
In his contribution, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah drew the attention of the upper chamber to the Federal Government’s embargo on employment over 13 years ago.
He said the embargo period must be factored into the review of age limit by the Ministry of Labour and Productivity for prospective job seekers in the country.
Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah stressed;
For example, if the age limit is 23, we must now add the 13 or 14 years of embargo on employment to the age already earmarked for employment, so that the age will be plus thirteen because it is the government on its own that placed the embargo on employment.
There cannot be justification for you to place embargo on employment, then at the same time expect graduates to remain at the age they were during the period of the embargo.
He added;
I think in the review, that has to be taken into account, and therefore, the age limit can now be raised in addition to the established age. That should be the legal verdict for the review.
Supporting the motion, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, also condemned the discrimination against job seekers as a result of the barrier imposed by the prescribed age limit.
He urged the Ministry of Labour and Productivity to swing into action immediately, saying;
It is not through a fault of theirs that people are discriminated against. They will tell you only 30 years limit, meanwhile, someone graduated ten years ago, searching for job. This is a very good motion.
Senators unanimously approved the only prayer of the motion when it was put to voice vote by the Senate President.
