Tribute to Theresa Modupe Bowyer

Danmaliyo maliyo maliyo, Danmaliyo nawa maliyo is one of the favourite songs that Mrs. Theresa M. Bowyer, the late  proprietress of Therbow School, Zaria usually danced to every Friday on the Assembly Ground, to the delight of all the pupils. I was one of them.  I can still remember my first day in school back […]

Danmaliyo maliyo maliyo, Danmaliyo nawa maliyo is one of the favourite songs that Mrs. Theresa M. Bowyer, the late  proprietress of Therbow School, Zaria usually danced to every Friday on the Assembly Ground, to the delight of all the pupils. I was one of them. 

I can still remember my first day in school back then in the 1970s. Clad in my uniform, I was escorted to school by my late father, who was the pioneer manager of Leventis Stores in Zaria. The school uniform was a lemon green “V” neck, knee-long gown, with a white shirt worn inside.

Therbow School was located around PZ area (Liverpool road). It was the most popular private school to beat. After spending some years there, we were moved to a new building, very close to Water Board Road, Zaria. 

Right from then, I began to recollect the presence of Mrs Bowyer in the school, almost on a daily basis. We had access to a serene environment, excellent learning facilities, spacious and beautiful playing ground. She never allowed pupils to go outside to buy food from local vendors. She usually said it was unhygienic. If you were caught buying or selling to her pupils, you would surely face her wrath.

Although I left Therbow School in the 1980s for Government Secondary School, Chindit Barracks (inside the army barracks in Zaria), I can still remember the quality of supervision she gave the school daily. On Fridays, we stayed longer on the Assembly Ground to sing various songs and rhymes, with the school band on ground. Friday was my favourite day in school as we always marched and sang in English, Hausa, Yoruba and French. We always looked forward to seeing Mrs. Bowyer dance while we sang danmaliyo. Those rhymes have stuck to my memory up till date, and I can sing most of them perfectly.

It all seems like yesterday as I can still picture Mrs. Bowyer running in the corridor close to her office, chasing pupils who spoke native languages. Such languages were not allowed in the school. You would hear her shouting, “Stop speaking vernacular!’’ And the chase would begin. We all knew that speaking vernacular was prohibited within the school premises; as such, pupils were forced to learn and speak good English. I found this useful when I enrolled in Government Secondary School, Chindit Barracks. It took me quite some time to blend with the vernacular- speaking students there.

We were always given a long list of textbooks to buy at the beginning of every session. I can remember going to the popular Kola Bookshop, located along Park Road, Zaria, with my mother to buy all the textbooks. We were also required to buy apron, but it was not always available. I thought apron was the name of a book, not knowing that it is a protective garment worn over (front) one’s cloths and tied at the back to protect the cloth.

The school equally had good teachers. As a result of to the quality of teaching I could write a letter free of grammatical errors as a Primary Two pupil. My teachers were Mr Olufemi, Mr. Kodiano (Ghanian), Mr Mensa (Ghanian), who was the head- master; Mr Winful, Ms. Rose and Mr Matthias (our French teacher). Our French teacher left the school after I had started learning how to speak the language. 

During our days in Therbow School, we used varieties of English textbooks, courtesy of Mrs Bowyer’s supervision. 

We did summer lessons and attended Islamic classes. Despite the fact that Mrs. Bowyer was a Christian, she ensured that Muslim pupils were taught Islamic Religious Knowledge (IRK) very well. Most of the chapters I can recite from the Quran were those I learned from Therbow School. Although I am a Muslim, I could recite the Christian Lord’s Prayer through constant listening on the Assembly Ground.

I can also remember that a big cow was slaughtered every year on the birthday of Mrs Bowyer.Pupils were asked to bring empty plates on that day, and we were served with food. I cannot forget the fun-fares usually organised yearly. We would bring different items, such as biscuits, sweets, treetop drinks etc and play games to win them back. What a trick!

There was an old white woman called Mrs Waters (of blessed memory). She was in charge of the library. We used to call her Oyinbo. We were usually arranged to visit the library in groups and given different books to read aloud, to the hearing of Mrs Waters. She was always there to correct us when we pronounced any word wrongly. 

The quality of teaching we received through the supervision of the late indefatigable Mrs.Bowyer contributed to who I am today. 

Mr Bowyer, who we always referred to as white Bowyer, was a calm, tall aged white man. He was in charge of the school bookshop. I never saw him angry or scolding anybody throughout my stay in the school.

Pupils who worked hard were rewarded. Also, indiscipline was never tolerated during our days in Therbow School. I can remember how I repeated Primary One. It  was Mr. Winful’s class. He normally divided the class into groups. While I found it difficult to solve the class work he assigned to our group (Group D), I found it easy to solve all the class work he gave to Group A, the supposedly intelligent students. Later, I was lucky to fall into the hands of Mr Obafemi when I was made to repeat Primary One E. Mr Obafemi had more patience and tolerance for his pupils, so he discovered that I was too good to be in Primary One E. Consequently, he facilitated my transfer to Primary One B. I was promoted to Primary Two at the end of that academic session. From there, I was given double promotion to Primary Four. Coincidentally, Mr Winful was my teacher in Primary Four. I got another double promotion to Primary Six, where I met my former Primary Two teacher, Mr Kodiano.

I remember staying with a Therbow schoolmate, Yemisi, while studying in the polytechnic. We stayed in the same room and never knew that we attended the same primary school until one day when our other room mates had gone to write their exams and we were the only ones not having any paper to write. She started singing the Therbow School rhymes and songs. We sang simultaneously for more than 2 hours.

Before Mrs Bowyer died about 10 years ago, I had always longed to pay her a thank-you visit, but I could not do that. I  strongly regret this. But some months after her demise, I eventually dreamt of her. In that dream, I discussed the wonderful memories of my days in Therbow School with her. 

There is much to write about Mrs Bowyer. I understand that she was a Board member of the New Nigerian Newspaper in the 1970s. She was a great educationist whose contributions to our generation was inestimable. May her gentle soul rest in peace.

Hajiya Khadijat is the proprietress of Great Cadex International School, Zaria.