NEWS JUST IN: Legendary accountant Akintola Williams has passed away
Pa Akintola Williams, the accounting industry’s grand old man, has died at the age of 104.
The most prominent accountant in the world recently turned 104, as reported by Channels TV on August 9.
According to legend, Pa Williams took and passed the ICAEW qualifying exam in 1949, making him the first person of Sub-Saharan African descent to become a chartered accountant in the United Kingdom.
He was instrumental in the formation of the Association of Accountants in Nigeria, which later became the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), a professional organisation for accountants in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange, now known as the Nigerian Exchange Group, was founded in part due to his efforts, and he went on to become a founding member of ICAN.
Williams is a seasoned administrator who also happens to be a brilliant accountant, management consultant, and serial entrepreneur.
Williams received his early education in Nigeria and then went on to earn a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of London in 1946, specialising in banking and finance. Afterward, he qualified as a Chartered Accountant in England.
Before establishing Akintola Williams & Co., the first indigenous firm of chartered accountants in Africa (now Deloitte & Touche Nigeria), he worked for the Inland Revenue as an assessment officer from 1950 to 1952.
