Pentouch 
Founder of the popular Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls, Lagos- Chief Mrs Leila Fowler, is dead.
Her death was confirmed on Sunday in a statement by the school.
“It’s with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our beloved founder, Chief (Mrs.) Leila Fowler, on Saturday, 6 September, 2025.
“Chief (Mrs.) Fowler’s life was a testament to the power of empowering young women through education. Her guidance and motherly warmth built not just a school, but a community dedicated to excellence,” the statement read.
Mama Fowler’s story is that of a humble but noble woman who had trod many paths before becoming an educationist. She was first a nurse, then a lawyer, a leader and moved on to become an educationist.
She established Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls in 1991 (in honour of her late daughter).
Born in Lagos on 23 March, 1933, she started her education at CMS Girls School in Lagos, but later completed her education at Queen of the Rosary College, Onitsha. She taught briefly at St Teresa’s College, Ibadan. She was a pioneer student of the School of Nursing at the St Thomas University Teaching Hospital, London. She later quit, got married to her husband, Dr.Wenslay Vidal Fowler who was a medical consultant at the General Hospital, Lagos, in 1953 and had three children in succession. She lost her husband in 2015.
Leila took advantage of her husband’s travel to England to study law at the Middle Temple. She qualified in 1961 and was called to the English Bar in 1962. She returned to Nigeria in 1963 to enroll at the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Fowler joined the Chambers of the popular socialist lawyer, Messrs J.O.B. Omotosho and Co. She also served as a solicitor to the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation. Between 1978 and 1980, she was a Councillor in the Lagos City Council where she served with such personalities as Alhaji H.A.B. Fasinro and Madam Abibatu Mogaji. She was conferred with the traditional title of Yeye Mofin of Lagos by His Royal Highness, Oba Adeyinka Oyekan II, the late Oba of Lagos.
