Message that changed my life
"At FGC, I started attending fellowship and although many ministers came and preached, it was a message on life and death that got to me. There and then I judged myself and knew that if I should die, I would not make heaven because I was not living for God. That day, I made the decision to give my life to Christ and I did," she told Genevieve magazine in March this year.

Her future was already evident at this time as some two weeks after becoming born-again, she was chosen as the vice-president of her fellowship at FGC, Ijanikin, a position that led her to lead ladies who had been in the fellowship far longer than herself. This convinced everyone that indeed, God wanted to use her.

While in university, she was very active in fellowship, though she did­ didn't hold any executive position until she graduated and joined the Household of God where she was made the head of the counseling department. It was while in university that she met Taiwo Odukoya, a part 4 student of Petroleum Engineering, the man who was to become her husband. But it was while at Household of God that the seeds of the calling that was to become her life's work were sown.

‘Agony aunt' or practical Christian
In 1987, I had a vision in which I followed Jesus to a beautiful city called the City of David , into a street on which there was a signpost with the words, "Street of Practicality". Looking back now, I am not surprised when people say my teachings are practical because Jesus took me through the street of practicality," she said of the incident.

Eventually, she and her husband were ordained by Bishop Mike Okonkwo of the Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM) in 1992 and started their Fountain of Life Church with 20 members at llupeju Recreational Club, Lagos . By March 1993, the church moved to its present location in llupeju and has grown to some 7,000 worshippers.

By this time, Pastor Bimbo was holding relationship classes for young people on Monday evenings called S1ncle and Married. Eventually, the show took off from the Church to the air, where the rest of the world was waiting. Pastor Bimbo's Single and Married was syndicated to more than 16 stations in Nigeria , Ghana , Kenya and the United Kingdom .

It could just have passed as yet another Christian television programme. But this charismatic woman of God turned it into a spring of knowledge and succour for many a single person and troubled marriage.

Her hard-hitting but practical messages on romance and sex, love and marital fidelity touched the lives of thousands of people, across even religious affiliations, who tuned in weekly to take her advice and religiously apply it to their lives. She became more than just a personality on television to these people, more like a mother who understood their problems and told them the truth.

Her messages were simple, gritty and to the point. She never minced words and though some of the things she said were hard for them to accept, they loved her nonetheless.

I'm first a wife, then a mother, career, popularity come last
As her popularity grew, she began to have a larger than life image, even larger than the church and her husband, because she was reaching into the people's hearts and homes in ways the church could not do.

But she never let it go to her head and her humility was shown in the fact that, whenever the subject of her greater popularity came up, she never failed to point out that without her husband's support, she would not have achieved all that she did. She made sure to point out that he had actually founded the Single and Married Ministry and had made her the head-of it.

Even though she was such a high profile person, she also knew her place as his wife. "With God's support, I am able to carry out my role as a wife. Also I have a very wonderful and understanding husband who allows me to walk in my call. I understand the importance of being submissive to my husband and ensuring that he is well taken care of. I know my duties in the home come before my calling and so I give the necessary attention. I want all women to know that after God, their spouse is number one, followed by their children, then their ministry or career comes after their family. I know as a wife, my husband is my head and I have no problems with this at all.

My position on premarital sex
"Pre-marital sex creates a lot of psychological imbalance in an individual. It can lead to guilt, depression, disrespect, emotional abuse..."

Pastor Bimbo never failed to speak her mind on whatever issue that was up for discussion. One of the issues she constantly spoke about was pre-marital sex. She was unflinching in her belief that for a marriage to succeed pre-marital sex had to be discouraged and she used herself as an example to show that it could be done.

"When I got married to my husband, I was a virgin. We courted for five years and the relationship was devoid of fornication. I tell Singles that your period of courtship will determine what your marriage will be. If you have wrong principles during this period, then problems will occur later," she told a Nigerian magazine in a recent interview. The point was clear. If she could do it, so could they.