Jimmy Odukoya: Nigerian pastor who made a glorious Hollywood debut

The name, Odukoya sounds familiar, right? Many will be thinking of the late charismatic pastor and motivational speaker, Bimbo Odukoya. Well, there is another popular one and his name is Jimmy Odukoya. If you are thinking that the villain in the Hollywood box office hit, The Woman King, looks familiar, you are right. That villain was played by Jimmy Odukoya and we all can agree that he nailed that role perfectly.

Jimmy Odukoya is not new in the entertainment industry, especially in Nigeria. But his recent performance in The Woman King has made him one of the latest and most talked about Nigerian celebrities. So let us dig into the biography of the actor, pastor, singer, rapper and businessman.

Table of Content hide 1Jimmy Odukoya biography 2Career 3Jimmy Odukoya movies 4Odukoya’s net worth 5Jimmy Odukoya’s family 6Height 7Jimmy Odukoya church 8Conclusion

Jimmy Odukoya biography

Oluwajimi Odukoya, popularly known as Jimmy Odukoya, was born on April 27 to Pastor Taiwo Odukoya and the late Pastor Bimbo Odukoya of the Fountain of Life Church. There are no specific details of the year he was born but many speculate that he was born in the late 1980s, which will put him somewhere in his late 30s.

Odukoya has four siblings – two sisters from his mother and two brothers from his now-late stepmother, Nomthi Odukoya, who his father married in 2010. The young Odukoya was very active in church, especially in the children’s choir. He also joined the RGK dance group. Although he was raised in Lagos and attended his primary and secondary schools there, Odukoya obtained his university degrees abroad. He bagged two degrees, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Public Relations and Advertising, respectively, from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. He also has an MBA in Business Administration from the same university.

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Career

It is not a surprise that Odukoya began his career in the church, being the son of two popular pastors in Nigeria. He was a youth pastor of the Transformation church, formerly known as Greenwood Christian Center, Oklahoma, USA. He was also active in the college ministry of the Transformation church, called B.I.O. (Bring It On). He was later put in charge of all Church operations and Service coordination, in addition to being an assistant to Pastor Calvin Battle, who is now the pastor of Destiny Center. After years of serving in Transformation Church, he moved on to Bixby Community Church, where he became the Assistant to the Senior Pastor, Dr Steve Greene.

In 2009, Odukoya gained his ministerial license and was ordained Pastor at Fountain Of Life Church. He became the Assistant Pastor of Church 3:16, a youth ministry of Fountain of Life Church. He worked with Coordinating Pastor, Pastor Oyinda Soderu, until he became the Coordinating Pastor of the Church 3:16 in February 2012.

Apart from his pastoral ministry, Odukoya is a Nollywood actor, singer, model, social media influencer, keynote speaker and businessman.

Jimmy Odukoya movies

Odukoyabegan his career as a Nollywood actor in 2016. He has featured in some successful movies and they include the following:

• Lifting the veil
• The Bling Lagosians (2019)
• Tempted (2017)
• Oga Pastor
• Charmed
• Guyn Man
• Baby Palaver (2018)
• Crazy Grannies (2021)
• I am Nazzy (2022)
• The Woman King (2022) 

His latest movie, The Woman King, where he played the role of the villain, Oba Ade, is his standout movie. He featured alongside Hollywood star and Oscar winner, Viola Davies, and popular Nigerian-British actor, John Boyega. Other star actors in the movie are Thuso Mbedu, Jayme Lawson, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Masali Baduza, and famous African Grammy winner, Angelique Kidjo.

Odukoya also works as executive director at FIILM. He was also nominated for the City People Movie AMVCA for the “Best Supporting Actor of the Year” Award.

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Odukoya’s net worth

There is no official estimate of Jimmy Odukoya’s net worth. However, some unverified reports estimated his net worth between N10-35 million.

Jimmy Odukoya’s family

Jimmy Odukoya is the first son of Pastor Taiwo Odukoya and the late Pastor Bimbo Odukoya, founders of the Fountain of Life Church. He has four siblings. His mother, Bimbo, also fondly called Pastor Bims, was a popular televangelist, highly sought conference speaker, youth mentor and marriage counsellor. She died on December 10, 2005, in the ill-fated Sosoliso airline. His father, Taiwo, remarried 10 years later to Nomthi Odukoya, who died in November 2021 after battling cancer for two years.

Jimmy Odukoya is married to Oluwakemi Folashade Banjoko, now known as Kemi Odukoya. She was born in Nigeria but was raised in London, United Kingdom. The couple has two children together – a girl and a boy.

Height

Jimmy Odukoya’s height has been estimated at  5″11 (five feet, eleven inches).

Jimmy Odukoya church

As previously stated, Odukoya started his career in the church. He was an active chorister in his parents’ church when he was a child. He was also an active member of the church dance and drama group.

Shortly after returning from the United States, Odukoya was ordained Pastor at Fountain Of Life Church. He was the Assistant Pastor of Church 3:16, a youth ministry of Fountain of Life Church, working with the Coordinating Pastor, Pastor Oyinda Soderu, before he took the role in 2012. His wife, Kemi, is also a pastor at the Church 3:16.

Conclusion

Jimmy Odukoya is a man of many talents. He is a pastor, actor, singer, model, motivational speaker, poet, T.V. personality, and dancer. He seems to have inherited his charisma from his mother, Bimbo. However, the big Hollywood debutant is not without controversy. He had taken to his Instagram account to announce he was playing a major role in The Woman King shortly after his stepmother died. Many adjudged it to mean he did not care about his stepmother.

Apart from the ill-timed announcement, Jimmy Odukoya has lived a largely controversy-free life. He is a happily married man whose career in acting has taken him to Hollywood, the best movie in the world. Odukoya may look like your typical Nollywood bad boy, but he is not. He is still a pastor who has successfully managed to balance his ministry with entertainment.

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