The Senior Pastor of Fountain of Life Church, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya is dead.
His demise was confirmed via the official Facebook page of the church on Tuesday, August 8, 2023
The church disclosed that the cleric died on Monday, August 7 2023, in the United States of America.
Early life
Taiwo Odukoya was born on June 15, 1956, in Kaduna, Colonial Nigeria, where he was reared. He attended Baptist basic School, Kigo Road, Kaduna, and St. Paul’s College (now known as Kufena College, Wusasa) Zaria for his basic and secondary education before enrolling in the University of Ibadan in 1976 and graduating with a degree in petroleum engineering in 1981.
He began working as a petroleum engineer at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in April 1982, following the completion of the mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) scheme, and remained there until his voluntary retirement in January 1994, following his appointment to the ministry.
Family
Odukoya met Bimbo Williams at the University of Ibadan in 1980, and the two began dating, which led to their marriage in 1984. Three children were born from the marriage. Bimbo Odukoya, along with 102 other passengers, died in the crash of Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 on December 10, 2005.
Many people have responded positively to Bimbo Odukoya’s messages. Five years later, on January 5, 2010, Taiwo Odukoya married Rosemary Simangele Zulu of South Africa.The marriage resulted in the birth of two sons.
Odukoya lost his second wife to cancer in November 2021. On November 9, the pastor announced the death of his wife, saying she had “battled cancer for the better part of two years.”
Ministry
Taiwo and Bimbo Odukoya co-founded The Fountain of Life Church in 1992 with the stated mission “to teach men and women the art of building successful relationships and the principles of leadership so they can be who they are created to be.” South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Switzerland, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, the Republic of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, the Republic of Benin, and Togo all have missions.
Odukoya has stated his firm belief in the role of the church in the community, which he expresses through a hospital, an orphanage, a school for destitute children, a farm, a water project that provides boreholes at strategic locations for people who do not have access to clean and portable water, and a skill acquisition and entrepreneurial institute for the less fortunate.
Taiwo Odukoya founded Discovery for Men and Discovery for Women on April 19, 1997, as non-denominational outreaches to men and women to help them achieve their potential. Through quarterly rallies, mentorship programs, and a vocational center, these outreaches reach hundreds of thousands of men and women each year, equipping them with technical and practical life skills.
Controversy
Odukoya revisited the plane tragedy that left him a widower in 2014, nine years after the death of his first wife. He said that pastors should fly private jets because they facilitate pastoral service and are a safer mode of transportation than commercial flights.
