By Akindele Olumideko

Not a few people know him especially in Pentecostal circles. He is none other than Pastor Ituah Olajide Ighodalo – the Senior Pastor of Trinity House in Lagos.

Popularly known as Pastor Ituah, he was born in Ibadan on the 6th day of April 1961 to Pa Jeremiah Ighodalo and Mrs Folayegbe Akintunde-Ighodalo. His dad, an alumnus of Baptist Academy, Lagos was a great opinion leader of the Ewohimi community in Ishanland of Edo state while his mother, Mrs Fola Akintunde Ighodalo was a notable alumna of Queens College, Lagos and the United Missionary College, (UMC) Ibadan, among other high profile educational institutions. It is noteworthy that Mrs Fola Akintunde-Ighodalo was the first ever female permanent secretary of the Civil Service in Nigeria.

Without any doubt whatsoever, Pastor Ituah’s parents, having been a beneficiary. of same did not compromise on quality education for their children from day zero! Which was why for his primary education, Pastor Ituah attended Maryhill Convent School in Ibadan.

Something to be said about the Roman Catholic educational system even then was that it inculcated in their students the qualities of self-discipline, integrity and resilience among other exceptional values right from the Primary School. In the main, most of those who benefitted from Roman Catholic education during the Sixties and the Seventies appear to effectively demonstrate these attributes later in life.

After his Primary education, Pastor Ituah gained admission into Kings College, Lagos for his secondary education. It was most unusual for Primary School leavers in Ibadan during Pastor Ituah’s time to aspire to go for Secondary education in Lagos. For most of Pastor Ituah’s classmates at Maryhill, the dream was to go to Government College Ibadan! The jury’s yet out as to which Secondary school in Nigeria between Government College and Kings College produced the most ‘rounded’ alumnus!

At Kings College, Pastor Ituah was classmate to His Royal Majesty, Muhammadu Sanusi II, the 16th Emir of Kano and Major – General Reuben Ndubuisi Nkado (Rtd.) – a fine military officer, excellent medic and comprehensive gentleman among other notable and accomplished classmates. Pastor Ituah subsequently attended the International School, University of Ibadan for his Advanced Levels programme.

He had his university education at the University of Hull, England where he obtained a combined honours degree in Economics and Accounting in 1982. It is pertinent to note that only Pastor Ituah of his siblings did not enjoy the privilege of passing through the portals of the premier university in Nigeria i.e the University of Ibadan, Ibadan.

He commenced his professional career at Pricewaterhouse and later founded Ighodalo & Co. in 1987. His firm merged together with three other firms in 2004 to form SIAO, a professional accounting firm providing audit, tax and advisory services. Pastor Ituah is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and that of the Chartered Institute of Taxation among other professional bodies.

Pastor Ituah is a person who could be said to have optimised every aspect of his personality to the fullest extent, to wit: the spiritual, the professional, the academic, and the social, among others. It is definitely amazing how he seamlessly integrates these manifold aspects of his person in the service of humanity. Apart from being the Senior Pastor of Trinity House, he was until recently the Managing Partner of SIAO. His social life is equally active. He is the immediate past Vice President of Kings College Old Boys Association (KCOBA) among other social and professional bodies where he effectively contributes his quota.

I have always known Pastor Ituah since our growing up days in Ibadan but was never really close to him. A major academic initiative in honour of the late Dr Christopher Kolade brought us together a couple of years ago. The (Kolade) project gave me the unique opportunity to assess him at close quarters especially his charitable persona and philanthropic disposition. Consequently, i have no doubt in my mind that Pastor Ituah qualifies as one of Nigeria’s greatest selfeffacing philanthropists.

Expression of benevolence is innate to Pastor Ituah and it appears to me that this aspect of his life gives him ‘oxygen’! He just loves to show kindness to as many people as providence directs his way. He attends to people’s needs till late in the night. It is not unusual for him to leave his office past midnight and see him officiate at a service early the following morning.

You wonder whether he sleeps at all! Moreover, he is no doubt a complete minister of the gospel in that he believes uncompromisingly like Jesus Christ that man must not only be fed spiritually but also physically and/or financially!(Matthew 14:16 – 21).

In spite of multifarious assignments and responsibilities, Pastor Ituah still creates the time to pen, put together and publish the devotional, ‘Believe and Command the Mornings.’ The insights shared therein has been a blessing to millions of its readers through the years.

Finally, mention must be made of Pastor Ituah’s resilience in the face of adversity. A lot has been said about the unexpected demise of his former wife, Ibidunni, about six years ago. However, the ability to recover quickly and effectively after such major setback set him apart from the average person. This could only have been made possible by the presence of the Holy Spirit in his life.

There is no doubt that Pastor Ituah has been a great blessing to humanity – spirit, soul and body and as said of David in the scripture, it may be said of him that he has served his generation. (Acts13:36). Further, like Apostle Paul, he can, when the time comes, look forward to his ‘relocation’ and state unequivocally that he had fought a good fight, he had finished his course and he had kept the faith! (2 Timothy 4:7).

Lastly, my admonition to Pastor Ituah with profound respect, is that he should invest in and raise other leaders like himself who will in turn like he has done – and still doing – add value to humanity in order to continue from wherever he may have stopped when he eventually keeps his destined appointment with his maker!

Happy Birthday to God’s General!

Olumideko wrote from Lagos.