John Enoh is Nigeria’s 36th  Sports Minister

Femi Solaja

Senator John Owan Enoh, known with the acronym JOE, is the new Sports Minister of the federation after he was confirmed last night by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the allocation of portfolios to all the appointed ministers that have passed through screening by the Senate late last month.

He became the 36th person to supervise Nigerian sports since Chief Joseph Modupe Johnson (JMJ) in 1960.

The new sports minister was a senator representing the Central Senatorial District of Cross River State in the 8th assembly that ran from 2015 to 2019.

He was a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) until May 2017 when he defected to the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC).

He contested the governorship position but lost to Ben Ayade.

Apart from politics, Enoh owns numerous farms where he conducts arable and livestock production.

Farming venture he started in 2000 has as of 2021 since cultivated about 2000 hectares of cultivated lands.

Enoh’s farm spreads across various parts of Cross River State. 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. 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 in their farms and later provides them with the market to sell these products.