Nigeria’s first chartered accountant, Akintola Williams dies at 104

The pioneer accountant was an active face in the accounting profession before he died.

Nigeria’s indigenous chartered accountant Chief Akintola Williams has been pronounced dead at the age of 104.

According to the Punch newspapers, a source disclosed that the centenarian died at his home on Monday, 11th of September, 2023.

Referred to by many as the pioneer of accounting in Nigeria, Chief Akintola Williams was born in 1919, and was instrumental to the development of the country’s financial sector.

The renowned accountant obtained a diploma in commerce from Yaba Higher College through a UAC scholarship.
In 1944, he traveled to England to study at the University of London where graduated in 1946 with a Bachelor of Commerce.

Williams did not stop there as he studied further and qualified as a chartered accountant in England in 1949.

He returned to Nigeria and later set up his accounting firm in 1952 and founded the first indigenous chartered accounting firm in Africa, Akintola Williams & Co (now Deloitte and Touche) in Lagos.

Contributing his own quartile to Nigeria’s financial sector, Williams was a founding member and first president of the institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.

He also played a leading role in establishing the Association of Accountants in Nigeria in 1960 and became the association’s first president with the goal of training accountants.

Williams also played an invaluable role in the establishment of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

In lieu of these contributions, he was honoured with the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) by the Nigerian Government in 1982.

In 1997, he was also honoured by the late Queen Elizabeth of England with the title Commander of the British Empire.

Up until his death, Williams remained active in the accounting profession as he has helped inspire and nurture Nigerians would showed interest in the financial profession.