Here are 10 things you may not know about Akintola Williams

By Ishaya Ibrahim

Nigeria’s first indigenous chartered accountant, Akintola Williams, is dead. He was aged 104.

Here are ten things about Akintola Williams you may not know.

1. He was the elder brother to Nigeria’s legal icon, Chief Fredrick Rotimi Williams, fondly called FRA Williams.
2. He was among the founders of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).
3. His father was a Clerk in the Colonial Service before travelling to London where he trained as a lawyer. He returned to set up his law firm.
4. The young Akintola Williams attended Olowogbowo Methodist Primary School in Lagos, CMS Grammar School, Lagos, and Yaba Higher College for Diploma in Commerce. He then travelled to England and studied at the University of London where he obtained a degree in Banking and Finance in 1946.
5. Upon his return from London in 1950, Akintola Williams worked with the Inland Revenue as an assessment officer for two years before setting up his own Accounting firm, Akintola Williams & Co.
6. His first set of clients included Nnamdi Azikiwe’s West African Pilot, K. O. Mbadiwe’s African Insurance Company, Fawehinmi Furniture and Ojukwu Transport. He also provided services to newly formed state-owned corporations including the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria, the Western Nigeria Development Corporation, the Eastern Nigeria Development Corporation, the Nigerian Railway Corporation and the Nigerian Ports Authority.
7. Between 1999 and 2004, Akintola Williams & Co. merged with two other accounting firms to create Akintola Williams Deloitte (now known as Deloitte & Touche), the largest professional services firm in Nigeria with a staff of over 600.
8. The Shagari government in 1982 honoured Akintola Williams with the national honour of OFR
9. In April 1997, Williams was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
10. After retiring from active economic venture in 1983, Williams delved into music by establishing a concert hall for the Music Society of Nigeria. UPDATED: Accounting guru, Akintola Williams, dies at 104