Akintola Williams

Chief Akintola Williams (9 August 1919 – 11 September 2023) was a Nigerian accountant.

He was the first Nigerian to qualify as a chartered accountant.

Akintola Williams was born on 9 August 1919.

His grandfather, Z. A. Williams, was a merchant prince from Abeokuta and his father Thomas Ekundayo Williams was a clerk in the colonial service who set up a legal practice in Lagos after training in London, England.

He was the older brother of Frederick Rotimi Williams, who later became a distinguished lawyer, and the late Rev. James Kehinde Williams, a Christian minister.

Williams began his education at Olowogbowo Methodist Primary School, Bankole street, Apongbon, Lagos Island, Lagos, in the early 1930s; the same primary school his late Junior Brother Chief Rotimi Williams attended.

His youngest brother Rev. James Kehinde Williams was a pastor in the same church, Olowogbowo Methodist Church.

For his primary education in the early 1930s, he attended Olowogbowo Methodist Primary School, Lagos.

Williams then attended the CMS Grammar School, Lagos.

He went on 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.

A Yoruba of chiefly background, the Oloye Williams was one of the founders of the Egbe Omo Oduduwa society while in London, with Dr. Oni Akerele as president and Chief Obafemi Awolowo as Secretary.

After returning to Nigeria in 1950, Williams served with the Inland Revenue as an assessment officer until March 1952, when he left the civil service and founded Akintola Williams & Co. in Lagos.

The company was the first indigenous chartered accounting firm in Africa.

At the time, the accountancy business was dominated by five large foreign firms.

Although there were a few small local firms, they were certified rather than chartered accountants.

Williams gained business from indigenous companies including Nnamdi Azikiwe's West African Pilot, K. O. Mbadiwe's African Insurance Company, Fawehinmi Furniture and Ojukwu Transport.

He also provided services to the new state-owned corporations including the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria, the Western Nigeria Development Corporation, the Eastern Nigeria Development Corporation, the Nigerian Railway Corporation and the Nigerian Ports Authority.

His firm founded in 1952, later grew organically and through mergers to become the largest professional services firm in Nigeria by 2004.

Williams participated in founding the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.

During a long career, he received many honours.

He married Mabel Efunroye Williams (née Coker) who was a member of the Coker family, a very prominent and influential family in Nigeria.

Akintola Williams' brother-in-law, Mr. F.C.O. Coker, along with Williams helped create the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) with Williams and Coker being the first and second presidents of ICAN respectively.

The first partner in the firm, Charles S. Sankey, was appointed in 1957, followed by the Cameroonian Mr. Njoh Litumbe.

Litumbe opened branch offices in Port Harcourt and Enugu, and later spearheaded overseas expansion.

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.

He was founding member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.

He was also involved in establishing the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

In 1964, a branch was opened in the Cameroons, followed by branches in Côte d'Ivoire and Swaziland, and affiliates in Ghana, Egypt and Kenya.

Demand grew as a result of the Companies Act of 1968, which required that companies operating in Nigeria formed locally incorporated subsidiaries and published audited annual accounts.

The drive in the early 1970s to encourage indigenous ownership of businesses also increased demand.

In 1973, AW Consultant Ltd, a management consultancy headed by Chief Arthur Mbanefo, was spun off.

The company acquired a computer service company and a secretarial service, and in 1977, the company entered into an agreement with Touche Ross International based on profit sharing.

Williams was also a board member and major shareholder in a number of other companies.

He retired in 1983.

By March 1992, the company had 19 partners and 535 staff.

Between April 1999 and May 2004, Akintola Williams & Co. merged with two other accounting firms to create Akintola Williams Deloitte (now known as Deloitte & Touche), the largest professional services firm in Nigeria with a staff of over 600.