Today, 9th of August, 2019 is a great day in Nigeria's accounting sector, as Pa Akintola Williams a.k.a Doyen of accounting, the first chartered accountant in Nigeria and the whole of Africa celebrates his 100th birthday.

Below is a brief biography of the founding member and first president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Of Nigeria (ICAN).

Akintola Williams was born on August 9, 1919, in Lagos Nigeria, West Africa. He was born in an affluent family with generations working with white settlers and the government. His grandfather was a successful business man while his father, Thomas Ekundayo Williams was a clerk who worked for the colonial office before setting up his legal firm in Lagos.

Akintola Williams began his education in the 1930s at Olowogbowo Methodist Primary School, Bankole street in Apongbon, Lagos.

Through a scholarship scheme, Akintola obtained a Diploma in Commerce from Yaba Higher College but due to the absence of higher institutions offering commerce courses in the country at that time, Akintola traveled to the UK in 1944 where he became a chartered accountant 1949.

In 1950, he returned to Nigeria in his quest to help build his economy and business sector. He got a job with the Inland Revenue as an assessment officer and in 1952, he resigned in order to set up his company, Akintola & Co., the first indigenous chartered accountants' firm in Nigeria. This company was formed in order to compete with other existing firms in Nigeria.

From 1964 to 1965, his firm grew bigger with over 500 staffs and branches worldwide.

Seeing the need for more accountants in Nigeria, Akintola Williams set up the Association of Accountants in Nigeria in 1960 and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. He served as the first president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants until he retired in 1983.

He was married to Mrs Efuntiloye Mabel Williams, who passed away on Wednesday, July 8, 2009.

SOURCE: https://www.trendingaccounting.com/2019/08/happy-100th-birthday-to-akintola.html

Meet Akintola Williams, The First Chartered Accountant In Africa https://www.trendingaccounting.com/2018/09/meet-akintola-williams-first-chartered.html

Happy Birthday The Doyen of African Development. May God bless The Williams of your Stock.

Happy birthday to the doyen of our noble profession. I saw him during my induction in 2009 but sadly, I didn’t take pictures with him. He’s such a great man and an exemplary leader. A real model for every aspiring chartered Accountant.