President Bola Tinubu has appointed John Owan Enoh from Cross River State as the new Minister of Sports.
The president allocated portfolios to his ministerial nominees on Wednesday.
Recall that Tinubu transmitted his ministerial list to the National Assembly a day before the expiration of his 60-day constitutional deadline of July 28, 2023.
Mr. Enoh, a 57-year-old Nigerian politician, farmer, teacher, and philanthropist, replaces Mr. Sunday Dare, who last held the position as the Minister of Sports.
Enoh was a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2015 representing the Central Senatorial District of Cross River State in the 8th Assembly of the Senate.
He was a member of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) up until May 2017 when he decamped to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Under the platform of the APC, he contested the governorship election in Cross River state in 2019 and lost to former governor Ben Ayade.
Enoh was born in 1966 into the family of Pa Owna Enoh and was raised in the Agbokim Waterfall community of Cross River State.
He is married to Rachel Owan-Enoh with children.
He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sociology from the University of Calabar, where he graduated as the best student in 1988 with 2nd Class Honours 'Upper Division.'
As an accomplished educationist and politician, he lectured for 7 years at the University of Calabar, Cross River State between 1991 and 1997.
He started politics in 1997 when the late General Sani Abacha unveiled his political transition programme.
He contested and won the election to represent Etung State Constituency in the Cross River State House of Assembly where he served as minority leader and later chairman, Committee of Information.
He proceeded to the National Assembly to represent Obubura/Etung Federal constituency for a period of 12 years, 2003 to 2015 where he held a lot of positions.
He then proceeded to the Senate in 2015 and served as Chairman, Committee of Finance.
He was also the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in 2019.
Aside from politics, Enoh owns numerous farms where he conducts arable and livestock production.
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Since he started his farming venture in 2000, he has cultivated about 2000 hectares of cultivated land.
Enoh's farm spreads across various parts of Cross River State, with about 150 hectares of planted palms in his native Agbokim Waterfalls and expanding to about 100 hectares of planted palms, and counting, at Etara-Ekuri and all communities in Etung LGA of Cross River State, where the politician hails.
Enoh is said to operate an out-grower scheme in communities where his farms are located.
The out-grower scheme is a corporate social responsibility scheme that empowers local small-scale farmers with arable and livestock to grow on their farms and later provides them with a market to sell these products.
Aside from politics, Enoh runs a philanthropy including founding a foundation tagged JOE (John Owan Enoh) Foundation where he provides help for people living with diabetes in Nigeria.
He is a fellow, the Centre for Peace and Conflicts Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
