Amidst an increase in the number of Nigerians looking for jobs, age restrictions, and other requirements are worsening the unemployment crisis in the country, GIFT HABIB writes
After applying for different jobs for two years after her National Youth Service Corps, Adaeze Festus was excited when she got an employment offer from a popular commercial bank in Lagos.
Her dream of a good life was about becoming a reality. So with joy, she broke the good news to friends and families who felicitated with her. For the very first time, she felt appreciated after receiving her first salary. And then came the day she would never forget in a hurry, precisely July 21, 2021, barely six months on the job, her world came tumbling.
Festus was greeted with a sack letter. She was depressed and broke down in tears. She pondered how her parents and siblings would react to the development. She stated “I was sacked not because the bank could not pay my salary nor was it struggling with inflation. I was sacked because I reduced my age to meet the age requirement specified for the job. The management later realised after reviewing my documents and so I was kicked out.”
Explaining why she needed to falsify her age, Adaeze lamented she did not get admission into the university on time, and then coupled with the strike by the lecturers, she was already over 25 when she joined the labour market in search of employment.
Narrating one of her many experiences, she said “ During a previous job offer before this banking job, the manager looked at me and said that I was qualified but my age would not allow him to employ me. I asked him if I was the cause of the outcome of Nigeria’s poor education system. He even told me to bribe him in cash or in kind so that he could make me get the job. It was funny because then, I struggled to feed, transport myself to places, and paying my rent was a challenge.”
After many years of struggling for survival, and with the possibility of getting a paid job fading away, Festus explained that she was tempted to falsify her age. Festus, like other Nigerian graduates over 25 years of age, is bearing the pain and frustration the government has been unable to deal with.
According to a recent World Bank estimate, about 19 million Nigerians, or 300,000 persons every month joined the labour market in the past five years. Findings indicate that a third of all unemployed persons in Nigeria are between the ages of 25 and 34, and the prospect of discrimination on the basis of age poses a barrier to their getting a job.
Several private firms have shut the doors of employment against a large number of Nigerians for the simple reason that they have gone past a certain age bracket. Meanwhile, thousands of young citizens graduate from tertiary institutions annually and many of them are not considered for employment simply because they are above the age of 25.
Age is an important factor in the recruitment process in Nigeria and job adverts, especially for entry-level positions or graduate trainee jobs in the private sector are often capped at 26 years. This is not the same in other parts of the world where competence is prized over age. The situation has compelled fresh graduates who do not meet the requirement to lower their age in order to meet this demand.
Thirty-year-old Jerome Bemana, who graduated from a university last year, said he had yet to get a job. “I have been in the labour market for a year now. I have been struggling to get job offers. It is challenging as I have not been able to get government jobs. The only job opportunities are from private firms or companies.
“Even with the job offers, the year of experience or age requirement becomes an issue and I cannot falsify my documents. I even registered with online job boards to always notify me anytime there is a job offer. Unfortunately, the jobs popping up do not fit my age. It becomes harder by the day. I spent so many years in school with strike issues and after successfully graduating, the age specifications became an issue.”
Relieving his struggles to get a job, Victor Anyam, 27, lamented the hardship he was going through as an applicant, noting that the employers failed to give him an opportunity to prove his mettle.
He noted, “Eighty-ninety percent of employers will tell you that one must be from age 25-30 to get a job. They will ask 25-year-olds to bring five years of experience to the table.
“So, where do they want me to get five years’ experience from when I have just graduated from the university? Why can’t these employers employ us when they know that it is not our fault but in most cases the economic challenges faced by many have brought about the delay. It is frustrating. I feel dejected sometimes. I am just managing the little business I am currently running but it does not give me joy because I have always seen myself as a career person.”
According to the 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index survey, 63 percent of persons living in Nigeria (133 million people) are multi-dimensionally and roaming about the streets of urban cities and rural villages without the faintest idea of where their next meal will come from.
In 2022, the unemployment rate in Nigeria was estimated to reach 33 percent, with the unemployment rate for people aged 25 to 34 at 37.2 percent. The Nigerian Economic Summit Group has projected that the country’s unemployment rate will hit 37 percent in 2023. The group in its 2023 Macroeconomic Outlook report titled, ‘Nigeria in Transition: Recipes for Shared Prosperity,’ said the country’s poverty headcount will also rise to 45 percent.
According to the report, due to weak performance in the job-elastic sectors, and low labour absorption of sectors that will drive growth, the nation’s population growth estimated at 3.2 percent will lead to a decline in real per capita income.
Also, the number of unemployed individuals in the country has hit 23m, a report by Jobberman in collaboration with Young Africa Works and Mastercard Foundation has shown. In the report titled, ‘Unmasking the Barriers to Women’s Participation in Nigeria’s Labour Market,’ Jobberman stated that Nigeria’s active population was 122mn out of a total population of over 200mn.
In Nigeria, the government is the highest employer of labour but it apparently cannot absorb all the jobless population. The harsh economic situation has sparked a desperation for government jobs which has resulted in employment racketeering and other nefarious activities.
Most of the individuals shut out of employment opportunities are energetic and productive. The discrimination which contradicted the constitution has rendered many youths idle and compelled some of them to emigrate illegally leading to the infamous ‘japa’ wave.
Out of frustration, a good number of unemployed youths have taken to a life of crime and deployed their energy in plunging the country into a state of anarchy due to social and economic insecurity.
Nigerians have criticised so many corruption-related practices associated with getting employment in government establishments. For instance, there have been allegations of government officials and top civil servants demanding huge amounts of money from job seekers. Also, it is common knowledge that top government officials and politicians use their positions of influence to secure jobs for their children, wards, and relatives, even when those children and relatives do not possess the requisite qualifications or expertise for such positions.
Tina Ndubuisi rued her inability to get a job due to the financial demands attached to the offer. However, her friend got the job after paying an undisclosed amount. Following her failure to get a job, she decided to take up a job as a nanny.
Ndubuisi explained, “My friend who was over 25 years old got a job that we were both told we could not get because of our age. But guess what! My friend had connections and today, she is working. I sincerely hate the fact that approaching 30 years without a job is the worst problem that could come before anyone.
‘’It is not my doing. I wrote UTME thrice. My parents could not afford the tuition when I got university admission. So, I had to hustle on the street for another year before I could go to school. After graduating, my school took a long time to get our names to JAMB and NYSC so that we could serve.
“I do not even have money to bribe anyone because the money paid by most companies at entry level is meagre compared to the economy of the country. I believe I have the strength and energy that equal my discipline. I now stay at home and take care of my aunt’s child for N20,000.”
To address age discrimination, the House of Representatives in 2021 approved a ban on age discrimination against job seekers in Federal Government ministries, agencies, and departments. The new law applies to all government bodies, except the Nigerian Armed Forces, where there may be requirements for high levels of physical ability.
An initial clause in the bill pegged the maximum age for employment in Nigeria at 45 years for new government employees, but after objections were raised, the clause was deleted from the bill.
A few months ago, the Nigeria Immigration Service in a recruitment advert published in a national daily pegged the maximum age limit for applicants at 30 years while doctors and pharmacists must not be more than 35.
However, the National Bureau of Statistics claimed that Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.1 percent in the first quarter of 2023. The unemployment rate, it said, stood at 33.3 percent as of the fourth quarter of 2022. The agency explained that anyone who had worked even for a few hours qualified to be categorised as underpaid employment.
This, according to the agency, aligns with the categorisation in other developing countries where work, “even if only for a few hours and in low-productivity jobs”, is essential to make ends meet, particularly in the absence of any social protection for the unemployed.
A report by the National Bureau of Statistics covering the fourth quarter of 2017 to the third quarter of 2018 put the figure of unemployed Nigerians at 20.9 million from 17.6mn.
It explained that of the 20.9 million people who were unemployed, 8.77 million were first-time job seekers, 0.93 million people were unemployed because they lost their jobs, and 11.1 million were working for less than 20 hours a week.
Nigeria’s unemployment rate hit a new record high at 33.3 percent in Q4 2020 from 27.1 million recorded in Q2 2020.
According to the bureau, a total of 23.18 million persons either did nothing or worked for less than 20 hours a week, making them unemployed during Q4 2020.
In April 2021, then Nigeria’s Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige, claimed that the World Bank questioned the methodology employed by the NBS to generate its employment statistics.
But the NBS dismissed Ngige’s criticism, adding that the World Bank never questioned its methodology.
On April 19, 2023, the NBS announced it had revised the methodology for the Labour Force Survey.
The review, it explained, was to ensure alignment with international standards and best practices.
According to its latest job report which was based on its new methodology, Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped from 33.3 percent in 2020 to 5.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022 and down to 4.1 percent in the first quarter of 2023.
The NBS explained that the rate arose from a new methodology emanating from the International Labour Organisation’s global standard. Under this, the working age is from 15 to 64 years, and a person is deemed employed if he or she worked for at least one hour in the last seven days during the survey period. In the old methodology, an employed person was one engaged in any activity to produce goods and services for a minimum of 20 hours.
However, the latest figures attracted wide criticism from the Nigeria Labour Congress and other stakeholders who queried its metrics, describing the report as a fraud.
KPMG reckons Nigeria’s unemployment rate is at about 40.6 percent and is projected to climb higher by year-end.
About 23 million persons are estimated to be jobless by Jobberman, a recruitment platform. Youth unemployment is 53 percent according to the Spectator Index.
In contrast, South Africa which is more industrialised than Nigeria recorded a 32.9 percent unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2023.
The unemployment rate in Senegal decreased to 21.5 percent in the first quarter of 2023, as stated by the
National Agency of Statistics and Demography.
In Egypt, the unemployment rate in Q2 of 2023 was estimated at 7 percent, NASD disclosed.
However, in Ghana, about 1.76 million persons, or 3.9 percent of the population were unemployed in the third quarter of 2022, the Ghana Statistical Service said.
In Kenya, the most recent data put the unemployment rate at 4.9 percent between October and December 2022. The figure shows a slight drop from the previous 5.6 percent in the corresponding quarter in 2021, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
Chief Executive Officer of the O’Nuga Printing Press, Tola Nuga, who defended the age bracket syndrome said, “Despite the fact that these sets of people do not have experience, we believe that they do not have huge responsibilities like those over 25 years. Just very few are married at that age with fewer excuses about their husbands, wives, children e.t.c.’’
Besides, he pointed out that inexperienced hands do not earn so much; hence it is easier to engage them than the older job seekers.
“The salary of the fresh graduate is usually small, so it is always very easy for us to pay without owing or delays. Those older might not accept the pay and might not want to put his or her best in the job. Fresh graduates come on board and we begin to train him or her and start topping up their salaries,” he rationalised.
For Captain Roland Iyayi, the CEO of Top Brass Aviation, ‘’teachability’’ makes him prefer 25-year-old and below applicants rather than experience, adding that the younger ones will grow to become experts and have years of experience.
A human resource professional, Eunice Stephen submitted that most businesses or company owners prefer fresh graduates.
‘’And that is why you see in job specifications, age is a requirement because they believe that the young chap can be trained to become better in the field. However, this age requirement is creating a lot of unemployment which leads to a poorer society,’’ he pointed out.
An economist, Sheriffdeen Tella, said there should be a body to regulate the requirements by employers as their decisions do not tally with the economy and development of the country.
Tella explained “The age requirement in job specifications started a long time ago and I have always criticised that we are not realistic with what we do in this country. If we see such things happening outside the country, it is because they have a regular employment schedule which we do not have.’’
“The economy of this country has not been expanding to take in graduates immediately after graduation. Many of these employers are not just following Nigeria’s structure of joblessness.
“The situation in the country had left many youths jobless and several youths who graduated from higher institutions ended up wasting years without securing a job. Even the ones who graduated early could not access jobs for five years or more.’’
“For 20 years now, our economy has not been expanding to accommodate enough graduates. They do not need to impose such a rule, if not, a large number of graduates in the middle age bracket will end up becoming unemployed which is very poor for the economy.
“A legislation or regulation would be needed to help modify some rules by private entrepreneurs. Nigerians go for a four-year course in higher institutions, and only graduate after seven years due to the Nigerian factors, and then coming out, these business owners will put a constraint of age on the struggling fellows.”
Another economist, Johnson Chukwu noted that employers of labourers should not necessarily be blamed but the government who failed to prioritise education should take the larger blame.
Chukwu explained, “Certain jobs require some energy levels and the younger ones are more energetic, and creative. There are also jobs that require some level of maturity. The employers look at people who they can employ and train to handle such positions and gradually get to certain levels.’’
