A remarkable era of the accounting profession in Nigeria has come to an end with the passage of the doyen of the profession in the country, Pa Akintola Williams.
He reportedly passed on in his sleep in the early hours of today, Monday, September 11, 2023.
The accounting giant passed at the age of 104 years old, the greater part of which he invested in the accounting profession during which he produced a generation of chattered accountants through his mentorship.
Pa Williams is reputed to be the first Sub-Sahara African to become a chartered accountant after he passed the qualifying examination of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) in 1949.
The icon played a leading role in the development of the accountancy profession in the country by facilitating the establishment of the Association of Accountants in Nigeria, which metamorphosed into the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).
The late Pa Akintola Williams went on to become a founding member of ICAN and was also involved in establishing the Nigerian Stock Exchange, now the Nigerian Exchange Group.
A seasoned administrator, Williams was an outstanding accountant, management consultant to so many firms, and serial entrepreneur in his active working days.
After his early education in Nigeria, Williams obtained a Bachelor of Commerce Degree (majoring in Banking and Finance) from the University of London in 1946 before he qualified as a Chartered Accountant in England.
He worked with the Inland Revenue as an assessment officer from 1950 to 1952, when he left the civil service and founded Akintola Williams & Co., the first indigenous firm of chartered accountants in Africa (now Deloitte & Touche Nigeria).
Williams was Nigeria’s first indigenous chartered accountant, who pioneered Nigeria’s accounting profession.
Born in 1919, he was instrumental in developing the country’s financial sector.
The Conclave
