Graduate jobseekers battle age limits, turn Okada riders

DANIEL AYANTOYE examines how age requirement during recruitment increases unemployment in the country amid the high rate of poverty

Omotoso Ajiboye, a Higher National Diploma holder in Accounting from the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, is one of many graduates who have given up on their dreams and settled for menial jobs to make ends meet.



While scampering under the hot sun and covered in sweat, the 43-year-old motorcyclist struggled for passengers alongside other Okada riders at the Alakia Junction in Ibadan, Oyo State.

“This was not what I planned for myself,” he wiggled his head in sadness while describing to our correspondent the hurdles he passes through daily in his desire to live a meaningful life.

According to him, he settled for Okada to get busy after several attempts to get a job failed after completing the National Youth Service Corps at age 30.

He said, “My aspiration was to become an accountant and that was why I did my National Diploma and Higher National Diploma in Accounting, but as you can see, this is what I found myself doing.

“I was already 30 years old when I graduated and many of the companies I applied to were looking for graduates between 25 and 28 years old. After some time, I got tired of looking for a job. A few years ago, my elder brother bought me this Okada; that’s how I joined this business.”
When asked if he had other skills to support himself, the Oyo State indigene said he acquired skills in aluminium construction some years ago.

However, he claimed he could not do anything with the craft due to lack of equipment.

He expressed worry that he was becoming too old for certain employment.

Similarly, 38-year-old Temitope Aladesanwa, a 2014 graduate of political science from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, who applied to work with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and Nigeria Immigration Service on different occasions, failed as a result of the age requirement.

Aladesanwa, 38, who is married with two kids, also settled for Okada in order to make ends meet for his family.

He said, “The first problem I had after my youth service was that companies were requesting five to 10 years of job experience. Over the years, it became the issue of age because I was around 30 when I completed my youth service but now, I am 38. Most of the jobs out there now are requesting a lower age.

“In the past, I applied to the NSCDC, immigration and the police. In fact, I wanted to apply for the immigration recruitment that was done last year, but having seen the age limit, I couldn’t because it would just be another wasted effort. It is painful that I spent a lot of money schooling and ended up doing this work; this was not the reason I went to school to obtain my degree.”
On his part, a degree holder in Education Management from the University of Ado-Ekiti (now Ekiti State University), Oluwaseyi Osuntoye, said after failing the recruitment of the Federal Road Safety Corps, he lost hope.

The 40-year-old is now a tricycle (keke) rider.

He said, “I have a responsibility to take care of my family, so I have stopped thinking of applying for any job because the first thing you will see in their requirement is the age, most of which are even below 30 years. Why should I bother then?

“When I graduated, I went to several companies. I always went through newspapers then and most times, I visited cyber cafes to see if there was any job notice, but when I couldn’t secure a job, I just settled for this one I’m doing now. I also attended an FRSC interview and applied to immigration as well, but nothing came out of it because of this age issue. So, for me not to be idle, I had to settle for tricycle riding.”

Osuntoye lamented that his time at the university was a waste, saying the country had frustrated him.

“What is the essence of going to the university, spending four years or seven years and you cannot get a good job?” he queried.

He recalled with sadness how some of his friends ridiculed and insulted him over his unemployment condition, adding that some called him, ‘graduate for nothing’.
“My ambition after I graduated was to get a good job especially to join the Nigeria Customs but all my effort failed and now my age is more than what those agencies are asking for,” he stated.

Federal agencies age requirements

During recruitment, several federal agencies request specific age ranges and reject applicants above the age requirement.

Recently, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, in its requirement for the 2023 recruitment exercise, stated that applicants must not be less than 20 years and not more than 35 years of age for the first category (Assistant Superintendent of Narcotics I and Assistant Superintendent of Narcotics II,).

The age limit for the second and third categories (Narcotic Agent Cadre) was set at 30 years and not less than 18 years at the point of entry.

However, 40 years was considered for medical doctors and articulated drivers.

Similarly, the requirement for the 2022 recruitment into the NSCDC stated that applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 30 years.

For recruitment into the Nigeria Customs Service in 2019, it was stated that applicants must be between the ages of 18 and 25 years for Customs Assistant cadres and Superintendent cadres must not be above 30 years of age.

Also, for recruitment into the Nigeria Immigration Service, the age requirement was put between 18 and 30 years with an exception for doctors and pharmacists, who must not be more than 35 years.

In the same vein, the age requirement for the 2022 recruitment of constables into the Nigeria Police Force was put at a minimum of 18 years and not more than 25 years old.

Private sector age restriction

A check by Saturday PUNCH showed that many private establishments are also following the same path in recruiting their members of staff.

A recruitment notice of the University Press for the position of English Language Editor, obtained from its Facebook handle, stated that applicants should “not be more than 35 years of age” as of the time of application.

A graduate of Mass Communication from the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Mrs Olafisoye Grace, said some organisations rejected her job applications due to her age.
Grace, who is currently a teacher in a private secondary school, disclosed that after graduation, she applied to a commercial bank but she was rejected because she was 27 years old.

She said, “It is applicable in private firms, especially in the banking sector. When you are 25 years of age, they won’t employ you. I applied to a bank when I was around 27 years old, but I wasn’t given the job because of my age.”

Also, 39-year-old David Babatola, an HND holder in Banking and Finance, who graduated in 2016, settled for a commercial tricycle business as a result of his inability to secure a job after his NYSC.

He said he made efforts to secure jobs in private firms but was rejected.

Another commercial tricycle rider, Adebayo Bukola, who has an HND in Accounting, said, “I graduated in 2006 and served in Zamfara State. As of the time I completed my service, I was already 30 years old. Some of the private companies I applied to rejected me that they needed someone of lesser age. But this tricycle work does not require any age, so I had to just do it to keep life going.”

Rising unemployment rate

Unemployment rate, particularly among the youth, is on the rise.
An online data company, Statista, stated that as of 2021, the total number of unemployed Nigerians was 6.3 million.

Compared to the previous year, there is an increase of 300,000, as 6 million people were estimated to be unemployed in 2020.

The company further disclosed that the unemployment rate in the country hit 33 per cent in 2022.

The International Labour Organisation, in its report in February 2023, projected that the global unemployment rate would rise this year.

It warned that millions in Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries would face the risk of high unemployment in 2023.

An online recruitment platform, Jobberman, in collaboration with Young Africa Works and Mastercard Foundation, in a report in August 2022, stated that 23 million of the 122 million active Nigerians were unemployed.

According to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, the labour force population covers all persons aged between 15 and 64, who are willing and able to work.
The number of Nigerians said to be gainfully employed was fixed at 46 million – 20 million women and 26 million men.

Those in informal employment were estimated at 43 million – 18 million women and 25 million men.

The number of people in formal employment is a meagre 3 million; with less than 1 million women and about 2.3 million men, which leaves the number of unemployed Nigerians at 23 million – 12 million women and 11 million men.

One of the major effects of unemployment is the increase in the level of poverty in the country.

The NBS in November 2022 said 133 million Nigerians were multi-dimensionally poor.
Also, in January 2023, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group projected that the unemployment rate would rise to 37 per cent in 2023, higher than the 2022 Statista d