Fifteen years after the demise of the late televangelist and wife of the Senior Pastor of the fountain of life church, Pastor Taiwo Odukoya, the Bimbo Odukoya Foundation (BOF) formerly known as the Pastor Bimbo Odukoya Foundation (PBOF), has positively impacted over a hundred thousand persons, ranging from students, young girls, women, to rape victims, and survivors.
Pastor Bimbo Odukoya, popularly known as Pastor Bims died on December 11, 2005, after the crash of an ill-fated Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145 on December 10, 2005. The flight was Port Harcourt bound from Abuja.
The Pastor Bimbo Odukoya Foundation believes it can do more with extra support.
Mrs. Tolu Odukoya-Ijogun, the daughter of the late televangelist, disclosed in a video on Thursday, 10th of December, 2020, that the foundation has been able to continue with the legacies of the late televangelist through its initiatives which include: Hope House, Peer Education for Prefects (PEP); Girls Empowered Project (GEP) and Sexual Harassment and Rape Prevention (SHARP).
According to her, the foundation has impacted the lives of young women as well as educated a lot of people about violence, rape as well as intervention. This impact, Odukoya-Ijogun noted, has gone beyond the shore of Lagos state. “Presently, we are in four states, Lagos, Calabar, Rivers, and Ogun, and have educated over 100,000 individuals and 12,000 girls empowered,” she said.
Odukoya-Ijogun, who is also a board member of the foundation noted the challenges faced by the foundation of which finance is major. She however appealed for more partnerships, especially for the Hope Home.
“There’s so much that we can do but we are limited by the funding we have now. If we can get more funding, we will do a lot more,” she explained.
“Now we have more understanding of what it takes to take care of pregnant young girls, we want to be deliberate to open the hope house again, and equip them mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. And we hope to get partners to do that.”
The Hope House has served as a shelter and temporary haven for women, girls, survivors of teenage unwanted pregnancies, battered/domestic and sexual violence victims between 2008 and 2018. 507 cases have been handled by the foundation with some of the survivors being graduates of tertiary institutions, married with children, and doing well.
The Peer Education for Prefects (PEP) is a civic education and youth leadership initiative to equip aspiring young leaders to engage in impact-driven policy decisions. 6,009 secondary school prefects have undergone this training in Lagos and Ogun states.
Girls Empowered Project (GEP) is an initiative of the foundation that inspires, transforms, and equip young girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in secondary schools in Nigeria. 12, 000 girls in Lagos, Ogun, Cross River (Calabar), and River states have benefited from this programme in the past 15 years.
Sexual Harassment and Rape Prevention (SHARP) is a platform under which the foundation raises awareness, sensitizes, foster prevention, and counsel survivors through advocacy/intervention. Ninety thousand (90,000) students (nursery, primary, secondary and tertiary institutions), parents, teachers, clerics, political leaders, and religious institutions within Lagos, Ogun, Calabar, Rivers, and Portharcourthave also benefitted from the programme of the foundation.
Wondering how the foundation has been able to achieve these feats, the administrator, Mrs. Aderonke Oyelakin, said that the foundation has enjoyed the support and partnership of active, passionate, and professional volunteers to achieve her aims and objectives over the years.
According to her, “We have gone this far only with the support of our financial partners who gives generously and are committed to keeping the work and legacy on. Through our partners in the ministry, we have been able to achieve much more and enjoyed limitless benefits.
“The foundation works with the Ministry of Justice through Domestic Violence and Sexual Response Team (DSVRT), Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation; our legal partner, Africa Women’s Lawyer’s Association (AWLA).”
She explained that “We also belong to several networks and have received awards from the Ministry of Education, DSVRT and many others.”
Speaking on the future plans for the foundation, Oyelakin also called for support from supporters and well-wishers in order to keep up the good work.
“We seek your support towards the purchase of a property in the foundation’s name to serve as a memorial for Pastor Bimbo Odukoya and also for the foundation permanent office,” she added.
“We also look forward to purchasing a 14 seater Toyota Bus for ease of transportation of our volunteers to project location and also to respond timely to cases of domestic and sexual abuse.”
Aside from the positive impacts of the foundation, some of her works that were not finished before her demise were also put into books and published. They include Rest; How to make your marriage romantic; Legacy (which was dedicated on her decade of exit); When it’s Hard to say Goodbye and Priced Above Rubies.
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