Taiwo Odukoya is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

. He is the senior pastor of The Fountain of Life Church, Ilupeju,

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

, with a membership strength of over 8,000 people.

Early life

Taiwo Odukoya was born on 15 June 1956 in the city of

Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Region, Nigeria, Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade Centre and a major transportation hub as the ...

Colonial Nigeria Colonial Nigeria was ruled by the British Empire from the mid-nineteenth century until 1960 when Nigeria achieved independence. British influence in the region began with the prohibition of slave trade to British subjects in 1807. Britain a ...

, where he was also raised. He had his primary and secondary education at Baptist Primary School, Kigo Road, Kaduna and St. Paul's College (now known as Kufena College, Wusasa)

Zaria Zaria is a metropolitan city in Nigeria which at the present time lies within four (4) local government areas in Kaduna state; it happens to be the capital city to the Zazzau Emirate Council, and one of the original seven Hausa city-states ...

respectively, before proceeding to the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 196 ...

in 1976 where he obtained a degree in petroleum engineering in 1981. As a petroleum engineer, he started work at the

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC Limited is a for profit oil company in Nigeria. Formerly a government-owned corporation, it was transformed from a corporation to a limited liability company in July 2022. NNPC Limited is the only entity licensed to operate in the country' ...

(NNPC) in April 1982 after the compulsory one-year

National Youth Service Corp National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(NYSC) scheme, and served there until his voluntary retirement in January 1994 after his call to the ministry.

Family

In 1980, Odukoya met Bimbo Williams at the

and the two struck a relationship that led to their marriage in 1984. The marriage produced three children. On 10 December 2005,

Bimbo Odukoya Abimbola Rosemary "Bimbo" Odukoya Akinsuyi, Yemi.Its an Act of God, Says Pastor Bimbo’s Mother" ''Thisday''. 12 December 2005. Retrieved on 23 February 2009See version atAllAfrica (nee Williams; 12 September 1960 – 11 December 2005), was a N ...

, along with 102 other people, died on the crashed

Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 (SO1145/OSL1145) was a scheduled Nigerian domestic passenger flight from Nigeria's capital of Abuja (ABV) to Port Harcourt ( PHC). At about 14:08 local time (13:08 UTC) on 10 December 2005, Flight 1145 from Abu ...

. Bimbo Odukoya's messages had been well and widely received by many. On 5 January 2010, five years later, Taiwo Odukoya got married again to Rosemary Simangele Zulu from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. The marriage produced two boys. In November 2021, Odukoya lost his second wife to cancer. The pastor announced the death of his wife on 9 November, saying that the South African "battled cancer for the better part of two years."

The Fountain of Life Church

Taiwo Bimbo Odukoya co-founded The Fountain of Life Church in 1992 with a stated vision "to teach men and women the art of building successful relationships and the principles of leadership so they can be they are created to be. " The Church has several missions in South Africa, the United Kingdom, United States of America, Switzerland, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Republic of Benin and Togo.

Outreaches

Odukoya proclaims a firm belief in the role of the church in the community and expresses it through several outreach projects including a hospital, an orphanage, a school for destitute children, a farm, a water project which provides boreholes at strategic locations for people who have no access to clean and portable water and a skill acquisition and entrepreneurial institute for the less privileged. On April 19, 1997, Taiwo Odukoya set up Discovery for Men and Discovery for Women, non-denominational outreaches to men and women designed to help them maximize their potential. These outreaches reach out to hundreds of thousands of men and women annually through quarterly rallies, mentorship programs and a

vocational center A vocation () is an occupation to which a person is especially drawn or for which they are suited, trained or qualified. People can be given information about a new occupation through student orientation. Though now often used in non-religious co ...

to equip them with technical and practical life skills.

Controversy

In 2014, nine years after the death of his first wife, Odukoya readdressed the matter of the plane crash that made him a widower. He claimed that pastors are well advised to use private jets: such aircraft better facilitate pastoral ministry and are a safer means of travel than commercial flights.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odukoya, Taiwo Living people 1956 births People from Kaduna Nigerian Pentecostal pastors Nigerian Christian clergy Yoruba Christian clergy University of Ibadan alumni