The Doyen of Accounting, Mr. Akintola Williams, is reported to have died at 9 a.m. this morning.
He recently celebrated his 104th birthday on the 9th of August 2023.
Born in 1919, he studied accounting at the University of London and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1947. He returned to Nigeria and later set up his accounting firm, Akintola Williams & Co., now Deloitte & Touche, in 1952.
Williams was also a strong advocate for developing the accounting profession in Nigeria. He was a founding member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and was president from 1963 to 1965. He was also a member of the National Board of Accountants and Auditors.
Williams received many awards and honours, including the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) and the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM). He was also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
He was the first president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and played a leading role in establishing the association of accountants in Nigeria in 1960 with the goal of training accountants.