The founder of Fountain of Life Church, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya is dead.
The Ilupeju, Lagos-based church confirmed his death on its official Facebook page yesterday evening. In a statement, the Church said the cleric died on Monday in the United States of America. He was aged 67.
The statement read: “The Fountain of Life Church Family, in total submission to the will of God Almighty, announces the passing unto greater glory of our Father, our 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 a great leader.”
Details about his death were not released as at press time. But, until his death, the cleric was also a popular televangelist who held his listeners glued to the screen. Over the years, he has remained resolute in spreading the gospel even in most trying moments. His Church had no fewer than 8,000 members.
His wife, Bimbo Odukoya was among the 102 passengers who died on the crashed Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 on December 10, 2005. Bimbo was his most trusted partner even in the task of winning souls for Jesus Christ. She was also a popular televangelist who held her listeners spellbound.
In 1980, Odukoya met Bimbo Williams at the University of Ibadan and the two fell in love, leading to their marriage in 1984. The marriage produced three children. Five years after the death of Bimbo, Odukoya remarried.
This time, he married a South African, Rosemary Simangale Nomtandazo Zulu but popularly called Pastor Nomthi. They had two children. She died in November 2021 in London following cancer attack, which she battled for about two years.
A trained petroleum engineer, Odukoya had worked as a petroleum engineer at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) from April 1982 until his voluntary retirement in January 1994 to carry on his ministry.
Born on June 15, 1956 in Kaduna, he attended primary and secondary education at Baptist Primary School, Kigo Road, Kaduna and St. Paul’s College (now known as Kufena College, Wusasa) Zaria respectively. He obtained a degree in petroleum engineering in 1981 from the University of Ibadan.