• Wednesday, May 08, 2024
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In Memoriam: The life and times of Taiwo Odukoya

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Taiwo Odukoya, a Nigerian Pentecostal pastor, was the senior pastor of The Fountain of Life Church, Ilupeju, Lagos. He died on Monday, August 7, 2023, in the United States of America (USA)

Early life

He was born on June 15 1956, in Kaduna, where he was raised. He attended primary and secondary education at Baptist Primary School, Kigo Road, Kaduna and St. Paul’s College Zaria. He further proceeded to the University of Ibadan in 1976, obtaining a petroleum engineering degree in 1981.

Odukoya started work at the NNPC in April 1982 after the compulsory one-year National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) scheme and served there until his retirement in January 1994 after his call to the ministry.

Marriages

In 1984 Odukoya married Bimbo Williams, whom he met in school. The marriage produced three children. Taiwo and Bimbo Odukoya both founded the Fountain of Life Church.

Bimbo Odukoya and 102 others died on the crashed Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 on December 10 2005.

Odukoya, five years later, got married again to Rosemary Simangele Zulu from South Africa on January 5 2010. The marriage produced two boys.

In November 2021, Odukoya lost his second wife to cancer. The pastor announced the death of his wife on November 9 2021.