OBITUARY: Taiwo Odukoya, the cleric who withstood grief that ‘would have broken lesser men’

All humans are made of flesh and blood; only a few are cast in sterner clad of unflinching faith. A transcendent few, Taiwo Odukoya occupies a place among these gifted individuals.

When his death was announced on Tuesday, the Pentecostal congregation in Nigeria and beyond was thrown into mourning.

He was a motley of good things to the faith community: a leader, pillar, teacher and importantly, a reference for strength.

Odukoya was a cleric who demonstrated toughness against the tests of life. He remained steadfast and full of praise amidst a storm of grief that would have sent some men spiralling.

He was also a philanthropist who impacted lives through the Fountain of Life Church, which he founded with his first wife.

EARLY LIFE

Odukoya was born a twin on June 15, 1956. He was born and raised in Kaduna in a family of nine siblings.

He attended neighbouring Baptist Primary School in Kigo Road, Kaduna, before proceeding to St. Paul’s College (now known as Kufena College, Wusasa) Zaria, in the same state.

He proceeded to the University of Ibadan (UI) in 1976, obtaining a petroleum engineering degree in 1981.

Odukoya started working with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) immediately after graduation until he heeded God’s call 12 years later to become a full-time minister of the gospel.

GOD’S CALL AND FOUNTAIN OF LIFE CHURCH

Before his resignation from NNPC, Odukoya established Fountain of Life Church (FOL) in 1992 alongside Bimbo, his wife. He had met and fell in love with Bimbo during their days in UI. The passion strengthened through love for the words of God and culminated in marriage.

The couple started the church from a humble beginning as co-pastors.

Mike Okonkwo, presiding bishop of the Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM) and Odukoya’s spiritual father, recounted how the Odukoyas fanned their “fire for Jesus Christ” in the early days.

“My mind goes back to those years in Akoka, and I can’t believe you were in your 20s at that time. I remember in those days that Pastor Bimbo would come with a baby’s cot and would be driving mosquitoes away from the baby’s cot at night,” Okonkwo told Guardian Nigeria in an interview.

“They would stay very late in the night while holding meetings. They would ensure that the university community received the gospel of God. They raised money to print a magazine, and it started spreading around the university community. They were on fire for Jesus Christ.”

The Odukoyas soon became the energetic outlet of God’s gospel with leverage on the trendiest technology of the time.

The couple became renowned televangelists, with Bimbo winning more souls with her famous ‘Single & Married’ TV show.

Toluwani, the first child of the union, narrated how his father supported Bimbo’s drive to impact lives through TV, adding that he never felt threatened by his wife’s popularity.

“People kept wondering who the pastor of the church was when my mother was alive,” she told Punch in an interview.

“Whenever I told them it was my father, they argued with me. My mother became more popular because she was on television, but people didn’t know that it was my father’s idea. Everything she did, my father made her do it. If you had the opportunity to see her on television, she gave credit to my father.”

Odukoya attained fame in his own right with his refined brand of preaching the gospel. His messages were based on leadership development and building successful relationships and enterprises, which fetched him a wide-range following worldwide.

He was an accomplished author with over 100 books and praying manuals. Titles like Unleash Your God-given Potential, Created for Blessings, Limitless, Home Affairs, The Proof, Get All You Want, The Portrait of a Champion, 120 Days of Victory, 121 Days of Blessings, 125 Days of Favour,

LOSS OF BIMBO ODUKOYA

Taiwo’s union with Bimbo produced three children, including Jimmy — the star of Netflix’s ‘Woman King’ movie.

“My father and mother were like ‘bread and butter’. I am sure he cherished all the time spent with her. They understood each other, and they were really in love. My father’s love for my mother made him push her to achieve great things,” Toluwani said.

But tragedy struck in the 21st year of the marriage.

On December 10, 2005, Bimbo was on a two-part ministration scheduled for Abuja and Port Harcourt. Bimbo had completed the Abuja event and called Odukoya as she was about to board the flight bound for Port Harcourt. He hoped to hear again from her when she landed, as customary through their marriage.

Unfortunately, the plane Bimbo boarded was the Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 and crashed, killing all passengers but two.

“Everything happened so quickly; I tried all I could to book the next flight to Port Harcourt but was dissuaded by the people around, who were concerned about my ability to make the trip in my state of mind,” Odukoya reminisced about the period in his book titled ‘Gracious Legacy —The life and times of Bimbo Olukoya’.

“Her time of death was so detailed to be precisely 6 hours after the crash. It was devastating to learn she was alive for 6 hours, possibly fighting for her life. I could not make it on time to reach her, though she must have been expecting my arrival.”

Toluwani said the period broke her father, and he aged expediently. Odukoya would continue to wear the ring of his union with Bimbo as memorabilia of their love until a “medical check-up” forced it off him six years after.

“That period wasn’t easy for him. Suddenly, my father was becoming an old man. When I returned from the US, he was looking like a 70-year-old man. I was a 300-level student at an American university when my mother died. On getting home, I saw him seated on the floor in his room, looking aged. He couldn’t talk well; he was obviously broken. But the hurt and pain didn’t make him despise who God was. I think his hope in Christ pulled him out of the dark period. For almost five years, he slept on the floor as he couldn’t sleep on the bed without his wife,” she said.

“He still wore his wedding ring for almost six years after my mother’s death. It was when he went to the US for a check-up that his doctors, who were friends with him and my mother, looked for a way to take off the ring. They asked him to remove all his jewellery for the check-up, and they made sure he didn’t wear the ring back.”

LOSING HIS SECOND WIFE

After the death of Bimbo, Odukoya did not remarry until five years later.

He met Nomthi, a South African, at the Triumphant Church International, London.

“After the conference, my pastor told me someone was interested in me. I declined because I was seeing someone then. The relationship eventually did not work out, and I informed my pastor but not immediately,” Nomthi narrated in 2015 on Ynaija.

“To cut the long story short, Pastor Taiwo had a stopover in London and that was the first time we met. Before then, my pastor had given him my telephone number and he had called me. When he proposed to me, I did not like the idea of getting married to a widower. I took my time, prayed about it, and I became convinced it was what God wanted for me. Being married to him is amazing, and it has brought out potential I never knew I had. I don’t have to pray and say Lord help my husband go to church today. There is no struggle.”

The union produced two boys. The marriage thrust Nomthi into the limelight. She became an acclaimed author and an advocate against bullying, among other courses.

Then tragedy struck again. Nomthi passed away on November 9, 2021. Announcing the death, Odukoya revealed that Nomthi “battled cancer for the better part of two years”.

“She stood on the word of God, and she fought,” he wrote on his Instagram page.

“She gave me 11 beautiful years of marriage and two wonderful boys, who I know will be very significant in life. I loved her with all my heart, but who am I to fight the will of God?

“The truth is, at one point in our lives, we all will have to say goodbye. So, for now, till we meet again in glory, Goodbye, Nomthi.”

REINFORCED FAITH DESPITE ALL

Nomthi died on Tuesday, and the following Sunday, Odukoya was back on the pulpit espousing the teachings of God.

Odukoya led a worship session at his church in Lagos and his action spurred Jimmy, his son, to take to his Instagram page to heap praises on his dad.

Jimmy commended his father for fighting what “would break a lesser man”, adding that “Na man you be.”

Seven weeks later, Odukoya also lost Kehinde Hassan, his twin sister.

Describing her father’s passion for God, Toluwani said Odukoya understood that “God gives and takes, and we shouldn’t lose the giver and hold on to the gift because the giver will always give us gifts”.

“My father is a good Christian. As a human being, he has the right to question God for his wife’s death, but somehow, he understands God and His works,” she said.

“Despite his wife’s death, it didn’t shake his faith in God, and that also challenges the children. My mother died on December 10, and I fell seriously ill during that period, but my dad left me for the church. He called my aunt to stay with me, saying the church needed him. The church was really in disarray during that period too. He rates God higher than any other thing. Since God gives and takes, we shouldn’t lose the giver and hold on to the gift because the giver will always give us gifts.”

PHILANTHROPIC OUTREACH

Beyond his gospel teachings, Odukoya touched lives and impacted communities through his philanthropic deeds. He is a staunch believer in the role of the church in the socio-economic life of the nations, and his ideas are demonstrated through the social initiatives of the Fountain of Life Church.

The church has a hospital, an orphanage, a school for the indigent and a vocational farm. Through the Grace Springs Rehabilitation Home initiative, the institution took young children off the streets, rehabilitated and reconciled them with their families and society. The church claimed the initiative had touched over 24,000 beneficiaries since 2004.

The institution also launched Education Support Project (ESP) to salvage the falling standard of education in public schools within its environs. The programme provided infrastructure for schools and teachers and granted scholarships to outstanding students.