“What now stares the country’s new minister of sports is not a challenge. Instead, it is a public service meeting that he will ultimately find familiar, having intimately immersed himself with his constituents over the years. His distinguishing leadership charm and appealing values have been highlighted elsewhere as well.”
Observably patriotic in his private and public outlooks, Senator John Owan Enoh’s stars have aligned in the sports firmament with the announcement by the Federal Government of Nigeria that he is the country’s new Federal Minister of sports, a call to public service and an honor befitting of a man of immense intellect, social, and political talents.
Observers of the unpretentious politician’s political trajectory are not agitated by his recent national appointment. And this is so because the eminent Senator John Owan Enoh is a man of great public value whose experience as a parliamentarian has not gone unnoticed by many. A few days back, during the ministerial screening at the country’s national parliament, Senator Enoh sketched his inspiring public biography with eloquence and élan before being asked to “take a bow” and exit the chambers. He remarked: “A distinguished senator of the 8th Senate. I served in the 5th, the 6th, and 7th House of Representatives. In my tour of duty in the National Assembly for 16 years, I had the singular privilege and opportunity of sitting in the 5th Assembly as Deputy Chairman of the committee on appropriation, in the 6th Assembly as Chairman of the Committee on Finance, in the 7th assembly as Chairman of the committee on appropriations, and in the 8th Senate as Chairman of the Committee on Finance.”
Sports bring out the best in people and call for active engagement, agility, empathy, and much more. What now stares the country’s new minister of sports is not a challenge. Instead, it is a public service meeting that he will ultimately find familiar, having intimately immersed himself with his constituents over the years. He will deploy his exposure and goodwill he has built over the years as a top flight public officer to attract sponsorship to sports in the country. His distinguishing leadership charm and appealing values have been highlighted elsewhere as well. In a January 17, 2022 article in Independent Newspaper, renowned columnist Dan Amor stated: “There is no guile or duplicity in his life.” The author says: “In his eternal bid to invest in human capital development and capacity building, he embarked on a massive renovation of schools and award of hundreds of scholarships to his constituents. His sterling performance, both in contributing to debates and the practical development of his constituency, endeared him to leaders of the majority and ruling party in the state. The development of the human personality and the survival of the poor and downtrodden ultimately became the thrust of his political philosophy.”
Born on June 4, 1966, and backed by high schooling at St. Augustine’s Seminary, Ebonyi State, from 1978 to 1983, distinguished Senator John Owan Enoh studied Sociology and graduated top of his class at the Federal University of Calabar and also holds an MSc, a Post Graduate Diploma, and an MBA. Formerly a ranking lecturer (1991-1997) at his alma mater, John Owan Enoh also ran in state party primaries for the governorship ticket of Cross River State in the 2019 State polls. A man with a burning passion for knowledge, Senator John Owan Enoh also had a stint at Harvard University, where he took a professional development course in Public Finance Management.
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