Pastor Bimbo Odukoya: A Tribute - iNigerian.com (2024)

Nigeria Matters

by Toni Kan OnwordiDecember 22, 2005

written by Toni Kan Onwordi December 22, 2005

With the passage of time, it’s almost two weeks already; I am finally able to articulate what grief had made me incapable of putting into words. Pastor Bimbo’s (Pastor Bims to those of us at Fountain of Life) death is a tragedy of immeasurable proportions for me and this is not to belittle or discountenance the passing of the innocent children of Loyola Jesuit College, Abuja as well as the other hapless Nigerians who were also on that ill fated Sosoliso flight.

As a member of the Fountain of Life church, this tragedy hit too close to the bone. Late to church on that Sunday, my wife and I had missed the announcement but we could not miss the subdued and solemn ambience which hung over the church like a shroud. But it was when the sermon was cut short so we could pray for the wounded, the grieving and Pastor Bims, that my wife turned to the man seated next to us and asked what was amiss. That was when we learnt that our beloved Pastor Bims had been on Flight 1145.

The news was that she was alive but in critical condition and like other members of our church we had held on to that slim thread of hope, but that hope had such a terribly slim back which had broken by the time we turned on the TV later that evening.

I met Pastor Bimbo like many others through her programme, Single and Married. As a newly married couple, my wife and I used to have our breakfast on Sundays with her voice in the background and with time we would catch ourselves mimicking the way she said: “Talk to me!”

When we had problems with our local church after our wedding, we sat down and tried to decide on where to worship. My wife had suggested Fountain of Life and even though we knew next to nothing about Pastor Taiwo Odukoya, the head pastor of Fountain of Life, we had gone to their Ilupeju head office and fallen in love with the wonderful couple who had made it their life mission to build a nation of virtuous men and women by starting from the root: the family.

Pastor Bims was a woman of integrity and what endeared me to her and her unassuming husband was their sincerity. They were the first pastors I saw whose kids never missed church services and whose kids were always active in church.

And I remember that when it was time to start our building fund, I was moved deeply when Pastor Bims and her husband sold their jeep to set the ball rolling.

As President of the Discovery for Women and chief Marriage Counsellor, Pastor Bims brought comfort to many couples like my wife and I with her witty, down-to-earth teachings and one-on-one counselling. Most marriages within and without the Fountain of Life are still intact today, thanks to Bimbo Odukoya.

And the range and scope of her influence is discernible in the way young women – Christians and Moslems alike – would be found imitating Pastor Bims when something shocks or amuses them. The word or expression: Ray-bos-kay! has entered the lexicon thanks to Pastor Bims.

I remember her now, her chubby face lit up with laughter and her eyes twinkling as she advised women to submit to their husbands while urging the men to love their wives. I also remember her advice to us men when she attended our Married Men’s fellowship: tell yourself that no woman is woman enough to take your wife and God will make sure it is so.

My heart bleeds for her family; especially her husband who she never tired of telling us married her as a virgin after years of courtship. That testimony was her own way of admonishing singles to steer clear of pre-marital sex. Her message was simple; if I could do it, you can too.

And we all tried to be like her, to love our wives more and more each day in keeping with the example Pastor Taiwo, her husband, showed us while our wives tried to love us more and more each day as they aimed to follow in Pastor Bims’ footsteps.

I also think of her young children who will now have to grow up without their lovely mother. I wonder how Jimi and his sister, Tolu, felt in far away America when the sad news was broken to them, not having been here at home like their younger sister.

I don’t know this for sure, but I can surmise that reading the papers since her death was announced and seeing the outpouring of grief, in interviews, editorials, and feature stories chronicling the life of his beloved wife who died at a youthful 45 years of age, Pastor Taiwo must be shocked to discover that so many of us loved her more than he did because she was to many of us the mother we would have loved to have, the sister we would have liked to grow up with, the wife we know we could never have.

For me, reading all the eulogies that have flowed out to her in the print and broadcast media, I have almost wished I was the one who had died and was being celebrated! The celebration of her life is the truest testimony of the legacy she has left behind.

Pastor Bims lived a good life and fought the good fight and she touched lives not only in Nigeria or in Africa but all over the world and death has only underlined that beautiful fact.

The last message Pastor Bims preached before her death was “Sowing Your Life as a Seed for God” and it was a fitting epitaph for a woman who died in the service of the Lord and we know that the life she has sowed as a seed will yield a bountiful harvest.

Rest in Peace, Pastor Bims.

Toni Kan Onwordi

Toni Kan Onwordi holds both a B.A. and M.A. English (Literature) degrees from the Universities of Jos and Lagos. His works have been published widely in the Art pages of prominent Nigerian newspapers and his poems have appeared in the anthology 25 New Nigerian Poets edited by Toyin Adewale. He has also had short stories published in anthologies like We-Men, Little Drops (1) and Diamond and Ashes. An award winning poet, essayist and short story writer, his awards have taken him to Scotland and Switzerland. Toni Kan is currently working on a novel, Secrets of the Untold.

Any Room For Personal Responsibility?

How To Survive Shopping In America

Endorsem*nts and the Power-Brokers (1)

“Gwo Gwo Gwo Ngwo”: The Satirical Anthem Unmasking...

Bayo Onanuga: Spewing Ethnic Hatred As Weapon Against...

Tinubu’s LG Autonomy Gamble

The Godswill Akpabio Prayer Request

The political traditions of our fathers

Powerless: Nigeria’s Unending Struggle with Electricity

FIRS: The picture is here!

Eedris Abdulkareem, New York Times, and the Muse

Guerrilla Editorial Board Unrecognized by June 12 Inheritors

29 comments

olayideJune 24, 2010 - 10:37 am

Ebullient tribute.kudos! pastor bimbo will forever be remembered in the hearts of people. she has trodden on a good soil and are footprints are evident in the lives of youths nationally and internationally.May the good lord keep my pastor taiwo odukoya and his children in jesus name(AMEN) Pastor bimbo please sleep well,i will be glad to see you at the lords coming.

Ahen EbenezerDecember 28, 2009 - 1:14 am

The world is really uncertainty, like how will such a woman like Pastor Bimbo dies such a tragic death. The woman who has brought so much to me, she has shaped my live and now most people who know me call me by her name. I loved her so much.

IfedayoDecember 16, 2009 - 12:54 pm

Well said, Sir!

May God continually honor her memory, according to his word and promise!

Atem-Tambe EdithJuly 14, 2009 - 3:58 pm

Gone but not gone. All the way in neigboring Cameroon, this woman stands out tall as a monument ,pacesetter ,challenge and reference for us young ladies. A virtous woman indeed who can find, really her price is far above rubies.My life has greatly been transformed since I got incontact with her tapes immediately as her messages were and are still eyes openers especially as they were the instrument of restoraion after I went to a heart-wrenching emotional break-up.Ma, your message brought me back to live . Thanks for accepting to pave the way for us young female ministers , your legaccy lives on.Courage to Pastor Taiwo, the three kids, the Church and the family. Wish to get intouch with the activities of PBO.Would be glad to read from you through my email.

SunganiMarch 29, 2009 - 5:09 pm

Oh i didnt know this pastor until today when i was watching her preaching on TV, and i just saw late pastor Bimbo at the end of the preaching, and then i had to check her on internet, am real touched, i believe she is safe in God's hands, may God continue watching her family

RitaFebruary 27, 2009 - 8:43 pm

I happened to be in Ghana, this past summer, and as being a female minister myself, I was impressed by Pastor Bimbo’s preaching. She surely was a woman of God and of one of great strenght. Though I listened to her only one time, I was blessed by her faith and uprightness. I wrote down the title of a book written by her “How to choose a life partner” that I never actually ordered it. I am now back in the USA and as I googled her name, i read of her passing on to the other side in the arms of Jesus. My condoliances to her husband, Rev. Odukoya and God richly bless all of you at Fountain of Life’s Church. My love to you in Christ.

osasigbokan ogbeifunFebruary 24, 2009 - 12:57 pm

i never knew her i just heald about her she is realy a woman send by god to touch lifes,i pray that god should strenthen the family she left behind

AKIN OMO AKINJuly 5, 2008 - 7:42 pm

The lady lived, served and was an example

She didnt only preach the word but lived the word

Glorious is her path

Efezokhae GraceJuly 3, 2008 - 10:09 am

Pastor Bimbo will always be my mentor. She taught me a lot on imbibing high moral standards. I look foward to being a wonderful mother, submissive wive and virtious woman that she was.