Reps Pass Bill To Remove Age As Employment Condition

The House of Representatives last Wednesday passed for second reading, a bill seeking to abolish age barrier in government employment.
This indicates that job seekers are one step closer to gaining employment in Federal Government’s Ministries, Agencies and Departments (MDAs) without discrimination of age. The bill, with the long title “Bill for an Act to Eradicate the Age Discrimination against Job seekers in Federal Government Agencies; and for Related Matters (HB. 1502)” was sponsored by Sergius Ogun (APC, Edo) and Babajimi Benson (APC, Lagos).
Mr Ogun, while moving the motion for a second reading, said the new law will ensure that no Nigerian job seeker is disqualified from government employment on the basis of age. He added that the bill will first take effect on federal government MDAs before other sectors.
“It is a key responsibility of we parliamentarians, as representatives of the people, to ensure that no Nigerian job seeker is discriminated against with regard to age in employment opportunities in Federal Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs),” he said.
Mr Ogun added that the adopting that measure will curb the menace of unemployment in Nigeria.
As part of the reasons he gave for his colleague to support the bill, the Edo lawmaker cited incessant industrial actions by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) that has prevented students from graduating in the appropriate time.
Babajimi Benson, who co-sponsored the bill, while giving his submission pointed out that apart from age, sex, religion and ethnicity are other variables in which discrimination is rampant in Nigeria.