PROFILE OF PASTOR TAIWO ODUKOYA

All he ever wanted to do in life was make a difference in other people’s lives. And as a child, he thought the only way to accomplish this was to be in politics. Several decades later, Daniel Taiwo Odukoya is and has been doing what he has always wanted to do - serve, but not in the sense he imagined. He is catering to the spiritual, emotional and physical needs of many, and using his God-given resources to raise leaders in every sphere of life.

This outstanding gentleman, who is the founding and senior pastor of The Fountain of Life Church, was born on June 15, 1956 in Kaduna. He had his primary and secondary education at Baptist Primary School, Kaduna and St. Paul’s College (now Kufena College), Zaria respectively, before proceeding to the University of Ibadan where he obtained a degree in petroleum engineering in 1981.

As a petroleum engineer, he started work at the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in April 1982 after the compulsory one-year national youth service. His intelligence, diligence and integrity saw him sitting on different policy-drafting committees at the corporation before his voluntary retirement in 1994. He was instrumental in fashioning some key policies that are still in use in the Nigerian oil industry today.

The Fountain of Life Church was born in 1992 after Pastor Taiwo was formally released and sent forth, with his wife, by the presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM) to start a new work. With a membership of about 20 at inception, the Church has today become one of the most influential Pentecostal denominations in the country with a congregation of over 8,000, and has nurtured and released over 20 local assemblies across the country. Its vision is to build the home and thus build the nation, and to equip the saints for life and ministry.

A man of great compassion, Pastor Taiwo’s heart beats constantly for the underprivileged and societal outcasts. His love for the poor and needy members of the society has found expression in various outreach projects such as the:

• Grace Springs Medical Centre, which makes available standard and adequate medical care
  to those in the community who cannot afford it.
  
• Lord’s Kitchen, which provides good and nourishing meals on a daily basis to people who
  cannot afford a good meal a day.
  
• Educational Support Project, which provides books, furniture and volunteer professional
  teachers to select public schools to enhance the standard of education.
  
• Water Project, which provides boreholes at strategic locations for people who have no access
  to clean and portable water.
  
• Area Boys Rehabilitation Project, which picks up street boys, assists them to learn a trade or
  go to school, and even provides accommodation for them.

Pastor Taiwo has as a result been a catalyst for other people and ministries who are fulfilling similar responsibilities across the country and even beyond.

A builder of leaders, his amiable and humble personality, coupled with his down-to-earth, ‘say-it-as-it-is’ teachings and counselling have drawn a lot of men and women closer to God. He is an accomplished and much-sought-after minister with a mission to motivate men and women
to fulfil their individual callings and thereby fulfil their leadership potential.

He has mentored, nurtured and supported scores of thriving ministries, ministers and individuals who willingly surrender to his tutelage. A good number of men and women whose lives have been shaped by his ministry are today occupying prominent positions in government, commerce, industry and other spheres of life.

A proponent of leadership by example, Pastor Taiwo has received numerous awards in recognition of his leadership role in the society and his concern for the less privileged. They include:

• African Role Model Leadership Award for Excellence
• African Hero Award
• Development in Nigeria Merit Award
• Time News International Merit Award
• Corporate and Media African Communication Meritorious Diamond Award for National
  Development
• Today’s People Role Model Gold Award
• Salvation Army Charity Award
• Honorary Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Award in Public Administration

Only recently, he was voted one of the twelve most inspiring leaders in Nigeria in 2006 in a survey conducted by Leadership & Lifestyle (a London-based magazine). He is a Life Fellow and Grand Patron of the Institute of Corporate Management, and Fellow of the Certified Directors’ Institute.

Pastor Taiwo is the president of Discovery for Men, an outreach dedicated to equipping the men folk to fulfil their God-ordained leadership position. He features regularly on radio and television across the country with the Discovery message, and runs a leadership column (Heart-2-Heart with Men) in one of the foremost Nigerian newspapers. This is in addition to the outreach programmes he holds regularly in different parts of the country.

He is also the president of the Boards of Trustees of the Grace Springs Bible College and the Grace Springs Medical Centre, both in Lagos. An accomplished author, he has to his credit over 300 publications, including books, articles, seminar papers, etc. His latest books Unleash Your God-Given Potential and Created For Blessings have gained a wide readership both locally and internationally.

In 1984, Pastor Taiwo married his heartthrob, Bimbo, who was the host of the popular television programme Single & Married until her death in the ill-fated Sosoliso plane crash on December 10, 2005. They are blessed with three lovely children – a boy and two girls.