PASTOR TAIWO ODUKOYA: 15 Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Founder Of Fountain Of Life Church—The death of the Senior Pastor of Fountain of Life Church, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya, is undoubtfully a huge loss to the Christian community.
TGM earlier reported that the Odukoya’s demise was confirmed via the official Facebook page of the church.
The church disclosed that the cleric died on Monday, August 7, in the United States of America.
The post read: “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 clergy’s death comes barely two years after he lost his second wife, Pastor Nomthi, to cancer.
Below are things you might probably not know about the Lagos-based pastor whose late wife was known for her teachings on marriages and relationships.
1. Taiwo Odukoya was born on June 15, 1956 in the city of Kaduna where he was also raised.
2. He was the senior pastor of The Fountain of Life Church, Ilupeju, Lagos, with a membership strength of over 8,000 people.
3. 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.
4. He proceeded to the University of Ibadan in 1976 where he obtained a degree in petroleum engineering in 1981.
5. 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.
6. In 1980, Odukoya met Bimbo Williams at the University of Ibadan and the two struck a relationship that led to their marriage in 1984.
7. The marriage produced three children.
8. Taiwo and 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 what they are created to be.
9. On 10 December 2005, Bimbo Odukoya, along with 102 other people, died on the crashed Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145.
10. On January 5, 2010, five years later, Taiwo Odukoya got married again to Rosemary Simangele Zulu from South Africa.
11. The marriage produced two boys.
12. In November 2021, Odukoya lost his second wife to cancer.
13. 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.
14. In 2014, nine years after the death of his first wife, Odukoya readdressed the matter of the plane crash that made him a widower.
15. 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.
