Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has described the doyen of accounting profession in Africa, the late Akintola Williams as a Nigerian, who was so pervasive and consistent for his contributions and influence to the accounting professionals in particular and the nation in general.
According to the former president Obasanjo in a statement released by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, he said, Williams was an icon and an unusual specimen of human being as well as a nationally-renowned and globally-acclaimed accountant.
Going down memory lane, the former President relayed his over 50-year relationship with Pa Williams, saying “I had directly and indirectly enjoyed his advice and support. In his cucumber cool, sober and unruffled disposition, he inspired you and warmed you to himself. ”
“His reflections and piercing insights and insistence for truth and accountability cannot but inspire you. I often admired his calm mien and disposition and when I asked a friend, “why is he always so calm, composed and methodical? He answered, “It is because he has strong internal antenna for controls!”
“He was so pervasive and consistent in his contributions and influence that the accounting professionals in particular and the nation in general must keenly feel his departure. He was an icon and an unusual specimen of human being as well as a nationally-renowned and globally-acclaimed accountant.
“I must confess that my interactions with Mr. Akintola Williams were tangential for a number of reasons. When those of us in the military in the province like Kaduna, where I was, came to Lagos in the mid-1960s, we were looking at the likes of Mr. Akintola Williams at a distance with great admiration and in awe.”
Obasanjo added that, having lived for 104 years, Pa Williams cannot by any stretch of the imagination, be considered to have died an untimely or premature death.
“I pray that the Almighty will grant him sweet repose and give you and other members of his family the strength to bear the heavy and irreparable loss,” Obasanjo was quoted as having said.
The doyen of the accounting profession, Pa Akintola Williams, has passed away at the age of 104 years old.
The foremost accountant celebrated his 104th birthday on August 9.
Pa Williams was reputed to be the first Sub-Saharan African to become a chartered accountant after he passed the qualifying examination of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) in 1949.
The icon played a leading role in the development of the accountancy profession in the country by facilitating the establishment of the Association of Accountants in Nigeria, which metamorphosed into the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).
He went on to become a founding member of ICAN and was also involved in establishing the Nigerian Stock Exchange, now the Nigerian Exchange Group.
A seasoned administrator, Williams was an outstanding accountant, management consultant and serial entrepreneur in his active working days.
After his early education in Nigeria, Williams obtained a Bachelor of Commerce Degree (majoring in Banking and Finance) from the University of London in 1946 before he qualified as a Chartered Accountant in England.
He worked with the Inland Revenue as an assessment officer from 1950 to 1952, when he left the civil service and founded Akintola Williams & Co., the first indigenous firm of chartered accountants in Africa (now Deloitte & Touche Nigeria).
