‘Even at 60, There’s Still More to Achieve’

Mary Ekah
As the Senior Pastor of The Fountain of Life Church, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya and his twin sister, Mrs. Kehinde Hassan, recently marked their 60th birthday in what would be best described a low key celebration, one thing that was glaringly clear is that even at 60,the cleric still has so much to achieve in life.

The twins’ birthday, which was celebrated with a less than two hours evening service at the Fountain of Life Church, Illupeju, Lagos, had the Bishop of the Redeemed Evangelical Ministry TREM, Bishop Mike Okonkwo as special guest while other prominent men of God were present. But surprisingly the celebration was done in a very mild manner with praise and worship rendered to God for his grace in their lives.

Speaking on how he felt at 60, Pastor Odukoya, who was obviously excited and humbled by the calibre of personalities who turned up at the birthday service, noted in an in-house magazine, ‘The Fountain’ that, “The older you get the more you realise that there is a lot more to achieve.”

Adekoya who obviously couldn’t hide his gratitude to God, all through the period the service lasted, for His grace for bringing him from a very humble beginning to the state he is today, observed: “Considering the grace God has given me, I will say I am grateful to Him because many people would like to be where I am today.”

He noted however that despite the numerous instance of grace that God has bestowed on him, his potential has not been fully realised. Asking God grant him more grace, Odukoya said, “Just driving along the streets here, you will see that many people are suffering. We just can’t allow things to continue like this, so this usually stirs me up to want to do more. This is more so when you realise that with little help, many people will really swim out of the shallow waters of poverty and despondency to a place where they can themselves lift up others.”

The cleric who derives great satisfaction in seeing people happy, noted, “I am most satisfied when I am busy; when I’m contributing something. I find a lot of satisfaction when I see that the helpless man or woman rise up from despondency or obscurity into his or her divine calling. Really, nothing compares to contributing something to life – to the destiny of others.”

Odukoya described his lowest moment as when he lost his wife in an air crash, which he said came with a sense of great loss. “I honestly wished, it never happened”, he remarked, noting however that he had no regrets it happened. “God remains God and as it is written in His word: “And we know that all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.”