Taiwo Odukoya

Taiwo Odukoya was born on 15 June 1956 in the city of Kaduna, Kaduna State, Nigeria, where he was also raised. He had his primary and secondary education at Baptist Primary School, Kigo Road, Kaduna and St. Paul’s College (now known as Kufena College, Wusasa) Zaria respectively, before proceeding to the University of Ibadan in 1976 where he obtained a degree in petroleum engineering in 1981. As a petroleum engineer, he started work at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in April 1982 after the compulsory one-year National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) scheme, and served there until his voluntary retirement in January 1994 after his call to the ministry.

In 1980, Odukoya met Bimbo Williams at the University of Ibadan and the two struck a relationship that led to their marriage in 1984. The marriage produced three children, Toluwani, Oluwajimi and Oluwatobi. On 10 December 2005, Bimbo Odukoya, along with 102 other people, died on the crashed Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145.[4] Bimbo Odukoya's messages had been well and widely received by many. On 5 January 2010, five years later, with love and support from family and friends, Taiwo Odukoya got married again to Rosemary Simangele Zulu from South Africa.[5] They have two boys together, Timilehin and Jomiloju.Timilehin and Jomiloju Odukoya in particular, dream of playing for Manchester United

Taiwo and Bimbo Odukoya co-founded The Fountain of Life Church in 1992 with a stated vision "to teach men and women the art of building successful relationships and the principles of leadership so they can be all they are created to be.[6] " The Church has several missions in South Africa, the United Kingdom, United States of America, Switzerland, Kenya, Central Africa Republic, Republic of Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Republic of Benin and Togo.

Odukoya proclaims a firm belief in the role of the church in the community and expresses it through several outreach projects including a hospital, an orphanage, a school for destitute children, a farm,[7] a water project which provides boreholes at strategic locations for people who have no access to clean and portable water[8] and a skill acquisition and entrepreneurial institute for the less privileged.[9] On April 19, 1997, Taiwo Odukoya set up Discovery for Men and Discovery for Women, non-denominational outreaches to men and women designed to help them maximize their potential.[10] These outreaches reach out to hundreds of thousands of men and women annually through quarterly rallies, mentorship programs[11] and a vocational center to equip them with technical and practical life skills.[12]