Topic: Age Requirement is Unconstitutional (pls Read This)

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) Deputy 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.

By the grace of God, when the new government kicks off we should bring this issue to the attention of the national assembly or on the other hand we can go to the courts using a prospective employer as a scapegoat since it is a constitutional matter.
Please members of the House your suggestions and contributions are seriously needed in this matter of great importance.

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.

It is very disheartning when one graduate at 25 spent a year b4 going for service and spent another one year serving his/her fathers land which makes such a person not eligible for corporate jobs. I'm a victim of age discrimnation as well cos there is no way i can reduce mine, age discrimination is an issue that need urgent attention. Thanks for the info bro.