In a recent interview with BBC Pidgin, Pastor Jimmy Odukoya noted that his appearance has nothing to do with his calling as a minister. He went on to stress that everything he does has a spiritual backing to it and nothing is done on a whim.

Pastor Odukoya said, “God called me the way I am, just as I am. As for my dreads, the story behind it is long but the thing is everything I do is backed up by scriptures. If you tell me something, I’d tell you ‘Let’s check the scriptures’. If someone says that long hair is wrong, I’d tell you to check the Bible where the Lord told Samson not to cut his hair.”

Speaking about his facial hair, he backed up his appearance by stressing that Jesus himself had a beard which was pulled when he was being crucified, therefore his beard cannot possibly be sinful.

He said, “When people say, ‘Oh he’s a pastor and he has a beard,’ remember the Bible said that when Jesus was tortured his beard was pulled from his face. If he didn’t have a beard, what hair did they pull from his face, was it fresh skin?”

Pastor Jimmy Odukoya is an actor and the head pastor of the Fountain of Life Church in Ilupeju. He headed the youth arm of the church (Church 3:16) for over 10 years and recently founded another branch called ‘The Cave’ in 2019.

He played the role of Oba Ade in the 2022 movie The Woman King alongside Viola Davis and John Boyega. Pastor Odukoya is the first son and second child of late pastors Bimbo Odukoya and Taiwo Odukoya.

He succeeded his father after his father’s demise, as the official Senior Pastor of the Fountain of Life Church, with his sister, Pastor Tolu Odukoya-Ijogun confirmed as his associate Senior Pastor.

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