The death of the Senior Pastor of Fountain of Life Church, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya, has come as a shock to many.
Here are some facts about the clergyman.
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 worked 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 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 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.
