The doyen of the accounting profession in Nigeria, Pa Akintola Williams, has passed away at the age of 104.
Recall that Williams recently celebrated his 104th birthday on August 9, 2023. Nigerian accountant Chief Akintola Williams lived from August 9, 1919, to September 11, 2023. He became the first chartered accountant in Nigeria.
He started his education at the same primary school his late younger brother Chief Rotimi Williams attended, Olowogbowo Methodist Primary School, on Bankole Street in Apongbon, Lagos Island. The same church employed his youngest brother, Rev. James Kehinde Williams. Methodist Church in Olowogbowo.
His company, which was established in 1952, expanded organically and through mergers to become Nigeria’s biggest professional services organisation by 2004. Williams had engaged in the establishment of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and the Nigerian Stock Exchange. He has won numerous awards throughout the course of his lengthy career. In August 2019, he turned 100.
Birth and Education
In 1919, Akintola Williams was born. His father, Thomas Ekundayo Williams, was a clerk in the colonial service who opened a law office in Lagos after receiving legal training in London, England. His grandfather, Z. A. Williams, was a merchant prince from Abeokuta.
He was the older brother of the late Rev. James Kehinde Williams, a Christian pastor, and Frederick Rotimi Williams, who went on to become a renowned attorney.
Early in the 1930s, he had his primary education at Lagos’ Olowogbowo Methodist Primary School. Williams later enrolled at the Lagos CMS Grammar School. On a UAC scholarship, he continued his education at Yaba Higher College, where he earned a diploma in commerce. He moved to England in 1944 to attend the University of London.
He earned a Bachelor of Commerce in 1946 after studying banking and finance. In England, he finished his education and earned his chartered accountant certification in 1949. The Oloye Williams, a Yoruba with a chiefly background, was one of the society’s founders when it was established in London under the leadership of Dr. Oni Akerele and Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
Accounting Career
Williams served as an assessment officer for the Inland Revenue after his return to Nigeria in 1950 until March 1952, at which point he left the government service and established Akintola Williams & Co. in Lagos. The business was Africa’s first native chartered accounting firm.
Five significant international corporations dominated the accounting sector at the time. Despite the fact that there were a few tiny local businesses, they used certified rather than chartered accountants. Williams benefited from business from local firms such the West African Pilot founded by Nnamdi Azikiwe, the African Insurance Company founded by K. O. Mbadiwe, the Fawehinmi Furniture Company, and the Ojukwu Transport Company.
Additionally, he rendered services to the new state-owned businesses, such as the Nigerian Railway Corporation, the Western Nigeria Development Corporation, the Eastern Nigeria Development Corporation, and the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria.
Charles S. Sankey, the company’s first partner, joined in 1957. Mr. Njoh Litumbe, a Cameroonian, then took his place. In Port Harcourt and Enugu, Litumbe established satellite offices, and she later led international expansion. A branch was established in the Cameroons in 1964, and then branches were established in Swaziland and Côte d’Ivoire, as well as affiliates in Ghana, Egypt, and Kenya. The business employed 535 people and had 19 partners as of March 1992.
