It took the death of his wife, Ibiduni Ighodalo, a few days back for many people to realise how tough and resolute Pastor Ituah Ighodalo is as a man.
Despite how shattering the loss of his wife was to him, he kept strong for his children, family and church. He just couldn’t imagine what picture it would depict to break down and reveal the softer side of him. Even his elder brother, Asue, said he was the one who was supposed to give his brother strength, but it was the other way round. Ituah ended up being the one giving other people strength.
A few days before the passing away of his wife, Pastor Ituah was our Guest on City People Instagram Live Chat during which he spoke about his simple lifestyle.
What really explains his simplicity and easy-going lifestyle was one of the questions asked by the Publisher of City People Magazine, SEYE KEHINDE, in City People Tv Instagram Live Chat, and he revealed how his growing up in Ibadan and been tutored by disciplinarian parents helped him. “Seye, I am sure you know I am an Ibadan boy and I was brought up by very simple and easy-going parents. Of course, everybody knows my mother’s position and status in Nigeria, maybe in Africa, but that wasn’t the issue in our house. In my house you did your house chore, you clean the floor, you lay your bed. Our cousins will come from the village from time to time, as soon as they came my mother will spread the mat on the floor and we would all sleep on it if we all couldn’t sleep on the bed.
When we went to the Eshan or Oke-Igbo, everybody would sleep on the mat on the floor. We would all eat the same food.
On Saturday, my mother will take us to her farm, we would join the labourers in weeding the farm. So, I was brought up as a simple and ordinary person, and I have maintained that lifestyle.
It is good for me, I am under no pressure, I have nothing to prove, I enjoy my life. I take life easy, I mind my business, I do what I have to do. I am very very approachable because I love people and I want to make life better for people and it just works for me. It’s my life, I know nothing else, and because that is the way I was brought. My father was an extremely simple person. My father could dine in Buckingham palace this morning and will be in the forest with his villagers the next day at times. He could sleep in the car or sleep in 5-Stars Hotel, it didn’t matter to him. We were just ordinary people who are trying to do God’s will.
Pastor Ituah Ighodalo of Trinity House, a non-denominational, free flow worship centre powered with a vision to build leaders, professionals & leaders to be, with its headquarters at Water Corporation Road Off Ligali Ayorinde Victoria Island, Lagos Nigeria, was born on the 6th of April, 1961. On completing his primary and secondary education, he proceeded to the University of Ibadan, where he earned a degree in Accounting.
Ighodalo travelled to England for his Master’s program. He gained a Master’s Degree in Economics and Accounting from the University of Hull in 1982. He also has a Business Certification Course from Harvard Business School.
In 1987, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo founded Ighodalo & Co. He is also an Associate, Nigerian Institute of Management (ANIM) (1992) and the American Institute of Management.
Pastor Ighodalo trained and qualified as a professional with the firm of Price Waterhouse Coopers in 1986. As a former Managing Partner, Ighodalo & Co, Pastor Ighodalo brought to the firm 20 years of experience in Auditing, Accounting, Taxation, Human Resources and Financial Advisory Services. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria
Pastor Ighodalo sits on the board 12 nongovernmental organizations. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of The Christian News, the Timeless Newspaper as well as the Timeless Business & Leadership Quarterly. He also chairs Uni-Courage Web Media Ltd, among other businesses and organisations.
Pastor Ituah Ighodalo got married to Ibidunni Ituah-Ighodalo on February 16, 2007.
She died on Sunday, June 14, 2020, after suffering from a Cardiac arrest in her hotel room in Port Harcourt, Rivers State where she was handling a project.
If you are looking for one man of God, who has over the years remained steadfast and committed to the call of the most high, then look no further, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo is the man.
Having been born into an enlightened family in the sixties and having received the best quality of education available, one could excuse a somewhat intimidating personality, but not so in his case. In-person, he is affable, and hardly raises his voice for emphasis, save for the cool attention he gives everyone, not missing nuance and without giving away anything unnecessary.
As a well-accomplished individual, he goes about his business with uncommon meekness and focus; whether as a partner in one of the topmost accounting firms in the country, or as a Pastor of the well-known Trinity House Church, or as a board member and in some cases, the chairman of many big corporations.
His journey into Ministry though wasn’t just a coincidence. It was as a result of his mother’s prayer to God to establish him in faith, a prayer, which later took his 100% commitment to God’s work. According to him “I didn’t really choose to be a Pastor initially. As a young man, I had my plans, which were to become successful and make money. I started off in pursuit of my career as an accountant and I also wanted to diversify into business, but with time, I had to focus on one thing, which was my career. Sometime later, I was invited to Church and my mother among others invested a lot of Time and Energy praying for me and sharing the gospel with me. She felt I needed to anchor my life in the faith, perhaps because she felt I was a bit excessive in the pursuit of some things. Eventually, she got me converted to the faith (to be Born again) through a Pastor friend of hers. I then became passionate about the things pertaining to God and faith in Jesus Christ. If you know a bit about the Redeemed Christian Church of God, you would know how quickly they encourage members to get into ministry work by providing them with the platform. So, I rose quickly to become a Head Usher in 2 years and an Assistant Pastor by the 3rd year. Before long, I was going out on missions and setting up parishes as well as coordinating very important and strategic assignments. Eventually, I was given the opportunity to Pastor a Church, which was one of the Redeemed parishes at Gbagada, called Christ Church. I put in my best. So it wasn’t like I planned to be a pastor. It was thrust upon me and that is why still combine my accounting practice with my pastoral work since I never really gave up my practice. You can say I am still involved in both the circular and spiritual spheres of endeavour. So, I would say, it was my mother’s wish for me to be established in the faith but not for me to become a pastor. So when the issue of becoming a pastor came up, she kicked against it a little. She complained the Church was taking over my life and she called the General Overseer and had a discussion with him. The sum of that discussion was that they and should let me be and not drive me into the ministry. Also, a lot of my friends thought my commitment to the faith would not last and that I would fall back. But the more they saw my commitment with time the more they became convinced and the more respect I drew from them. They remain my friends and we still hang out, and I try to be as normal as I could be. They, in turn, respect my calling and give me due deference in times of need, they also consult me for spiritual guidance.
With many qualities, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo possesses, also considering his antecedents, one could have thought he could be anything he wanted to be in life, yet he chose to be a Pastor. Not just anyhow pastor but an epitome of humility loved by many.
