University Graduate Tells Neusroom How ‘Unreasonable’ Age Limit Affected His Job-hunting

In Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, there is a growing concern about the lack of jobs for the burgeoning youth population, an issue believed to be one of the underlying causes of insecurity in the country.

Considered the sixth most populous nation with a population growth rate of 2.41 percent, the scarcity of adequate job opportunities has led to an ever-increasing number of job seekers struggling to secure employment.

Beneath the job scarcity issue lies the concerning practice of imposing unreasonable age limits for employment, sometimes setting them below the age of 25 years for entry-level or graduate trainee roles.

With many tertiary institutions establishing their admission age at 18 years, the average graduation age hovers around 22-24 years for a four-year course, and even higher for longer-duration courses like Engineering, Nursing, and Medicine.

However, most recruiters in Nigeria frequently impose age limits on job applicants, favoring younger and more vibrant individuals in their early or mid-20s. This discriminatory practice persists despite occasional strike actions by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which often extend the academic years of many Nigerian students studying in public universities.

Emeka Ugochukwu, aged 28, a 2017 graduate of Civil Engineering from the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, shared his job-hunting experience with Neusroom.

“I never thought that age would be an issue when I left my role as a manager in one of Nigeria’s leading restaurants. I wanted to transition to tech and started taking courses.”

Ugochukwu, who resigned from his role in 2021 to seek a career in tech, was left stranded when he realized that he was above the age limit for almost every role he applied for. “When I began applying for entry-level positions, the age limit was consistently set at 27 years and below, with some going as low as 25,” he said.

To eliminate the barriers that most job seekers face, the National Assembly, in July 2023, through a motion titled ‘Age Requirement Precondition for Employment in Nigeria, Urgent Need for Intervention,’ sponsored by Benue State Senator Abba Moro, urged the federal government and other relevant agencies to abolish age limits as a requirement for employment.

Moro, who presented the motion on the Senate floor, argued that setting age limits as a condition for employment was contrary to Section 42(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), which guarantees a citizen’s right to freedom from discrimination.

“It is ironic that a graduate in this country can serve in the National Youth Service Corps program at the age of 30 but cannot find gainful employment thereafter simply because he/she is now above 30 years, a situation that is a blatant violation of their fundamental rights,” Moro stated.

Ugochukwu, who, after two years of actively seeking a job, secured an internship role in Data Analytics, is not alone. Millions of Nigerian graduates are denied job opportunities due to their age.

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While the country’s tertiary institutions churn out 600,000 graduates annually, a 2022 Nigerian Graduate Report by Stutern discovered that 39.75% of BSc holders are unemployed. The number is even higher for OND graduates at 49.55% and 58.9% for HND graduates.

But age limits are not only set by private firms but also by government agencies, which discriminate against job seekers based on age.

For instance, in January 2023, when the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) released its recruitment requirements, the agency faced criticism for imposing an age limit of 30 years and 35 years for doctors and pharmacists in their application process.

Punch Newspaper reported that human rights lawyer Tolu Babaleye, in a lawsuit, petitioned the federal government in an effort to remove the age barrier.

“We call upon the Management of the Immigration Service and the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Senate of the Federal Republic, to immediately remove this age barrier or adjust it to 40 years and maintain this for the next 10 years to accommodate the backlog of employable Nigerian youths and graduates from universities, polytechnics, or colleges of education,” the petition reads in part.

Many believe that by scrapping the age limits on jobs, many graduates will have equal opportunities to apply for jobs for which they are educationally qualified.