BREAKING: Nigeria’s First Chartered Accountant, Akintola Williams, Dies At 104

Nigeria’s first indigenous chartered accountant, Akintola Williams, is dead.

Pa Williams died in his sleep in the early hours of today, Monday, September 11, 2023, at the age of 104.

The graduate of accounting at the University of London was born in 1919.

He went to Yaba Higher College on a UAC scholarship, obtaining a diploma in commerce. In 1944, he travelled to England where he studied at the University of London. Studying Banking and Finance, he graduated in 1946 with a Bachelor of Commerce. He continued his studies and qualified as a chartered accountant in England in 1949.

In 1952, he founded the first indigenous chartered accounting firm in Africa, Akintola Williams & Co, in Lagos.

He was a founding member and first president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.

Williams played a leading role in establishing the Association of Accountants in Nigeria in 1960 with the goal of training accountants. He was the first president of the association. Also, he played an invaluable role in the establishment of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

He was honoured with the Order of the Federal Republic by the Nigerian Government in 1982.

In April 1997, Queen Elizabeth also honoured him with the title Commander of the British Empire.