+ How His Former Mother-in-Law Encouraged Him To Remarry 

• KEMI AKINYEMI 

The year 2021 began on a very blissful note for Taiwo Odukoya, the presiding pastor of the Fountain of Life Church, Ilupeju, Lagos. He celebrated his 11th wedding anniversary with his wife, Rosemary Simangele Nomthi on Sunday, January 5, amidst thanksgiving and gratitude to God.

But little did the Odukoyas know that it would be the last time they would celebrate their wedding anniversary together. Nomthi died on Tuesday, November 9, following a hard-fought battle with cancer that lasted two years.

Odukoya presides over a ministry that is committed to raising leaders in every sphere of life. He is also the President of Discovery for Men and Women, a ministry that inspires men and women to take up their God-ordained positions of leadership and influence in the home and in the society. His wife, Pastor Nomthi was an educationist, life coach, writer, and senior pastor at the Fountain of Life Church.

Eleven years ago, Odukoya, 65, had got married to Nomthi in Lagos. The marriage came four years after his first wife, Pastor Bimbo Rosemary Odukoya (née Williams), died in the 2005 Sosoliso air crash, which also claimed the lives of hundreds of students of the Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja. 

Before death separated them, Taiwo and Bimbo Odukoya were married for 21 years. The union was blessed with three children – Tolu, Jimi and Tobi. Ironically though, one person encouraged Odukoya to take a new wife was his late mother-in-law, Mrs. Anike Williams, who passed away in 2009. His three children were also said to have pressurised him re-marry as well.

If Odukoya’s decision to re-marry didn’t take many people by surprise, his choice of a bride must have. Nomthi (née Zulu), a South African, was then living in London, where she worked as a music director. He had visited London for a speaking engagement at the Triumphant Church International, when he met her. 

Somehow, Nomthi did not have her eyes on him, like every other minister that had come before him. According to her, she saw him as a man of God and found his message amazing and absorbing, which made her buy one of his books, titled ‘Home Affairs’.

Nomthi once revealed that after the conference, her pastor told her someone was interested in her, but she declined because she was seeing someone else at the time. However, the relationship eventually did not work out; she told her pastor but not immediately.

Nomthi would later meet Odukoya when he had a stopover in London, and the rest they say is history. After their affair took off and they agreed to get married, Odukoya thought it  would be wise to keep the news close to his chest, before unfolding his plan to the congregation at the Fountain of Life Church. 

Eventually, when Odukoya finally decided to

announce his plan to re-marry to the congregation, he refused to disclose the identity of his bride-to-be. Nevertheless, his announcement was greeted with a wild jubilation from the church members. One of the visiting guests at the service, Mrs. Hilda Adefarasin, the mother of Pastors Wale and Paul Adefarasin, was said to have prodded Odukoya to reveal his bride. But he tactically declined and explained he would tell her in private. 

However, during the first service of Sunday, January 3, 2010, Odukoya finally deflated the suspense when he invited his bride-to-be to the pulpit. He formally introduced Nomthi to the congregation, who greeted her with a rousing response.

Meanwhile, the congregation was yet to assimilate the full import of Odukoya’s marriage plan when the news of his wedding ceremony hit the street two days later. 

The marriage ceremony took place on Tuesday, 5 January, 2010 at the Civic Centre, Ozumba Mbadiwe, Victoria Island. It was witnessed by a select crowd of guests, which comprised of family members, close friends and church members. Bishop Mike Okwonkwo, founder of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission, TREM, who is a spiritual mentor of Odukoya officiated solemnisation of the union. Other ministers in attendance were Pastor Enoch Adesoye, Bishop David Oyedepo, Itua Ighodalo, Paul Adefarasin and a few others. 

Eleven years after, the Odukoyas had a lot to show for their marriage. Their union was blessed with two sons – Timileyin and Jomiloju. Pastor Nomthi settled down and acclimatized to the Nigerian culture, traditions and values. As an associate senior pastor at Fountain of Life Church.

Nomthi had her primary education in South Africa; she was a student of Natal College of Education between 1996 and 1999. She also holds a master’s degree from the University of Liverpool.

Pastor Nomthi fared very well and made great impacts as a minister. She was the chairperson of Fountain Initiative for Social Development and the founder and chairman of Funda Wazi Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to providing child-friendly resources and trainings to equip children and adults to ensuring children’s safety and wellbeing.

She authored several children books that address topical issues like bullying, abuse, gender equality, life lessons and social ills. Some of these books are: “No! Don’t Touch Me There”, “A Bully Is Not A Hero”, “Help They Are Fighting Again”, “Boys and Girls Are Different But Equal” among many others.

Pastor Nomthi had a unique way of preaching the gospel and her congregants always looked forward to her sermon. Whenever she mounted the pulpit, she would always ask the congregation “how are you?” And she always got a resounding “I’m enjoying my life” from the congregation, then she would reply “I’m enjoying mine too”. She always dazzled the congregation with her charming smile and presence. 

Nomthi was loved by many including her step-children, Jimmy, Tolu, and Tobi. It was not surprising that Tolu and Tobi were both on her bridal train.