Experience, Commitment and Consistency: Unveiling the Strides of John Enoh, Nigeria’s 36th Sports Minister
Kola/ Oru
Senator John Owan Enoh is a Nigerian politician, teacher, farmer and philanthropist. He was born on the 4th of June, 1966, at Agbokim Waterfalls, Etung Local Government Area of Cross River State. He graduated from the University of Calabar in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology (2nd Class Upper Division), and as best graduating student of his set.
He not only returned to the same department between 1991-1997 as a lecturer, but he also went ahead to bag an M.Sc (Demography), a PGDM, and an MBA degree.
Senator John Owan Enoh started his political career in 1997 with his initial election into the Cross River State House of Assembly in the botched Abacha transition. He got re-elected to the same House in 1999 and led the All Peoples’ Party (APP) as Minority Leader; leading 12 of his colleagues against 13 Members of the PDP.
In 2003, he got elected to the House of Representatives on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), where he served in the 5th, 6th and 7th Houses. During his first term, he served as Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Culture & Tourism (2003-2005) and Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation (2005-2007). In his second term, he was Chairman, House Committee on Finance (2007-2011). He Chaired the Committee on Appropriation in his third term (2011-2015).
He got elected to represent Cross River Central Senatorial District and served in the 8th Senate (2015-2019) as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance. In 2017, he defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the floor of the Nigerian Senate and was the party’s Governorship candidate for Cross River State in 2019.
He has attended several courses both at home and abroad on capacity building, earning a certificate in Public Financial Management, from the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University (Executive Education) and a certificate on ‘Influence and Negotiation’ at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, amongst others.
Sen. Enoh is a fellow, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, (CEPACS), University of Ibadan. He was also listed as one of Nigeria’s 50 most Outstanding Legislative Icons (1999 – 2010), in a definitive book published by Parlia Consult, a Consortium of Legislative Historians.
Senator Enoh is a voice that speaks for the voiceless, the weak, and the disabled and stands tall as a beacon of hope for his people.
He is happily married to Rachel and together, they are blessed with 3 children – Rachel, John Jr. and Victor. He is a football and lawn tennis enthusiast, and enjoys keeping tabs on a varying number of other sports.
