Pastor Taiwo Odukoya
Pastor Taiwo Odukoya

Highly impactful Nigerian pastor, Taiwo Daniel Odukoya clocked 60 yesterday. A quintessential religious leader and ordained preacher of the Gospel, Odukoya stands out among his peers for his age long and uncommon affinity with the downtrodden and the indigent folks of the society. He has used his ministry to win souls for Christ and to lift many out of spiritual and material impoverishment.

Born June 15, 1956, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya belongs to the generation of leaders and ministers of the Gospel who strongly believe that there is virtue in being Christ-like and humble. Having served in various capacities as a volunteer in other ministries for about twelve years, he answered the Master’s call to full-time ministry in 1992. He started, along with his famous and widely acknowledged late wife, Bimbo, The Fountain of Life Church, Ilupeju, Lagos where he is the Senior Pastor.

He has been able to put to the fore his passion to love all those that come by him, knowing that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Rarely does one come across a young man or woman who is not only in a hurry to learn and to share, but also goes ahead to infect others with that zeal. Pastor Taiwo, as he is fondly called, is that kind of person. As a trained and qualified petroleum engineer with the NNPC and a member of a number of strategic committees, he was very active and indeed instrumental to the setting up some key policies, which to date are still operational.

His love for the less privileged is evident in so many ways in the Fountain of Life Church. This is demonstrated in the church’s active role in taking care of the destitute, the sick in the hospitals and in reaching out to support ministries in the field. This rare passion of his is substantiated in various projects such as the Grace Springs Medical Centre, which caters essentially to those that have no access to medical care. The Centre, though it started off in July 2002 as an outpatient service, began a 24-hour service in November of that same year with an average monthly consultation of 150 and 9 cases of admission monthly. Having recognised that majority of the inhabitants of the city of Lagos live below the poverty line and therefore cannot afford a good meal, his ministry established what is known as “The Lord’s Kitchen.” The Lord’s Kitchen faithfully provides nourishing food on a daily basis at its canteen for such less privileged ones. It has done this for the needy in such areas of Lagos as Ilupeju, Oshodi and its environs.

In a country where miscreants popularly called Area Boys have become a menace and are best suited to be allowed to waste away, this compassionate Man of God through the Church has started a project to get at least some of these ones off the streets and rehabilitate them. So many of these boys have also been reconciled with their families. Apart from seeing to their physical, financial, social, emotional and spiritual well being, the church has provided them with accommodation. Equally a good number of such boys in Oshodi as well as drug joints in Onipanu have been rehabilitated.

He is also actively involved through this ministry, in the sponsorship and assistance of some of these children by way of education with a couple of them now studying in various tertiary institutions across the country. Part of the Church’s vision is the Business Fellowship which has grown in so short a time to become a haven for discerning and focused business persons to feed on the basic principles and essentials that would guide them in their chosen professions and in turn present to them, the wealth that the Father has placed in the land for their use most especially in the furtherance of the Gospel. Pastor Taiwo has indeed been able to bolster the setting up of other ministries that are in turn following suit, in the care and nurture of present and future leaders.

Pastor Taiwo, is the President of Discovery for Men with specific ministry to men to stir them up in their God-ordained leadership position. It therefore does not come as a surprise but as a confirmation of the call upon his life, as those who sit under his teachings by the Spirit of God are now involved in politics and holding various leadership positions across the country.

A truly outstanding Man of God with a positive personality, he features regularly in some national newspapers and is on several radio stations across the country with the Discovery message. He is an accomplished and much sought after Minister of the Word. He has a mission to motivate men and women to take up their responsibilities to build the home and thus build the nation and to equip the Saints for life and ministry.

He won the PSR Development in Nigeria Merit Award in 2004. He was voted as one of the 12 most inspiring leaders in Nigeria in a survey conducted by a London based magazine named Leadership & Lifestyle. In 2004, Pastor Odukoya was listed as one of the Top 100 Leadership Experts to follow on Twitter.

Taiwo Odukoya has many publications to his credit. Most of his books and other Christian literature are published by Gracesprings Africa Publishers Limited. Some of these includes: Limitless; Created for Blessing; Home Affairs; Questions Married Men and Women Ask; Portrait of a Champion; The Proof; Get all You Want; Empower Living; Days of Victory; Days of Blessings; and Days of Favour.

 Odukoya lost his dear wife Bimbo (also a renowned preacher and Christian Minister) to a Sosoliso Airline plane crash on December10, 2005. However, on January 5, 2010, he got married again to Rosemary Simangele Zulu, a South African. He is blessed with five children.