Lasun Alagbe
In the temple of pastors who teach with passion, candour and conviction, Taiwo Odukoya stood tall. Besides, he was a gentleman in the vineyard of the Lord. When some men of God would be embroiled in controversies and scandals, Odukoya had a way of sailing through the river of life largely smoothly. But, as God would somehow want it, something seemed too regularly close to his household: death.
In close decades, he lost two wives, so that he had to be at the receiving end of sympathy despite his calling. Now, the ultimate has happened: he too has breathed his life, as announced on Tuesday by his church, the Fountain of Life Church, Ilupeju, Lagos.
In a Facebook post, the church said: ““The fountain of Life Church Family, in tatal submission to the will of God Almighty announces the passing unto greater glory of our Father, Teacher, a great servant of the Most High God, Pastor Daniel Taiwo Odukoya, Founding Pastor of The Fountain of Life Church, who passed unto glory on the 7th of August 2023 in the USA.
“We are in total submission to you LORD!!!
“We thank the Lord for the gift of greater leader!!!”
The demise has ignited mourning on various platforms for Odukoya was a mortal liked by many. While details of the death have yet to be given, the mourning is expected to be deeper, since it will also tickle the memory of his dear departed wives.
According to an online profile, Taiwo Odukoya was born on 15 June 1956 in the city of Kaduna, Colonial Nigeria, 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 respectively, before proceeding to the University of Ibadan 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) in April 1982 after the compulsory one-year National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) scheme, and served there until his voluntary retirement in January 1994 after his call to the ministry.
In 1980, Odukoya met Bimbo Williams at the University of Ibadan and the two struck a relationship that led to their marriage in 1984. The marriage produced three children. On 10 December 2005, Bimbo Odukoya, along with 102 other people, died on the crashed Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 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 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.”
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.
Odukoya proclaimed 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 to equip them with technical and practical life skills.
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.
May his soul rest in peace. May the soul of his wives continue to rest in peace.
