One of Lagos’s social establishment figures, Leila Apinke Fowler, dies at 91

Chief (Mrs) Leila Euphemia Apinke Fowler, MFR, has died at the age of 91. She will be remembered for her contribution to Lagos’s socio-economic development during her lifetime.

Famous for founding the Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls, established in 1991 in memory of her late daughter, Vivian, the school has grown into a top-notch institution for girl education in Nigeria and beyond.

In addition, Mrs Fowler is also credited with establishing Topgrade Secondary School for boys and girls in 1994.

One of Lagos’s social establishment figures, Chief Mrs Fowler is the mother of the ex-chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and former Lagos State Internal Revenue Service boss, Mr Babatunde Fowler.

Born to Mr and Mrs Henry Moore in 1933, she attended CMS Girls’ School, Lagos, and Queen of Rosary College, Onitsha, obtaining her Senior Cambridge Certificate in 1951. She later worked as a teacher.

She married Dr Wensley Vidal Mobolaji Fowler, an erudite scholar and surgeon, in 1953. The couple moved to England, where she studied law at the Middle Temple, graduating in 1961. She was called to the English Bar in 1962 and obtained a diploma in international affairs from the University of London. On her return to Nigeria in 1963, Mrs Fowler enrolled at the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

Mrs Fowler practised as a solicitor in the chambers of Messrs J.O.B. Omotosho and Co. and also had a brief stint in the chambers of John Bentley & Co. in Lagos. She thereafter established her chamber in Broad Street, Lagos.

Fowler served as a solicitor to the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation and was a councillor in the Lagos City Council from 1978 to 1980. She also was an executive consultant to the Lion of Africa Insurance.

She held the traditional title of the Yeye Mofin of Lagos.

Her death on Saturday, September 6, is significant in the history of the socio-economic development of Lagos.