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Akintola Williams: The 100 Year-Old Accounting Colossus
By Eric Elezuo
Hurray!! The accounting wizard is 100 years!
Only few persons are known to have come from rich and influential families, and still managed to carve a niche for themselves, made their own names and stood apart from the crowd. One of such persons is the indefatigable and ever committed accounting guru, arguably the best the country ever produced, Chief Akintola Williams, who clocked an enviable 100 years on August 9.
Chief Williams was born on August 9, 1919 to the Ekundayo Williams family. His father was a lawyer and farmer while his grandfather, Z. A. Williams, was a prolific businessman from Abeokuta. His background really set the stage for the young Akintola to take the world by storm, rise above mediocrity and start an all new hegemony devoid of entrepreneurship, law and farming that his forebears were known for. He created a new vista, a new environment and subdued the field of accountancy. He became the first African to qualify as a chartered accountant.
Akintola took off on the journey of life when he began his education at Olowogbowo Methodist Primary School, Bankole street, Apongbon, Lagos Island, Lagos, in the early 1930s. This was the same primary school his late younger half-brother, Chief Rotimi Williams, attended.
After his primary education, he proceeded to the CMS Grammar School, also in Lagos and made one of the best results, which took him to the only higher institution of learning at the time, Yaba Higher College, now Yaba College of Technology. His education at the institution was sponsored by a UAC scholarship as a result of his brilliance. He obtained a Diploma in Commerce on graduation.
In 1944, he was admitted to the University of London, England, to study Banking and Finance, and in 1946, he graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce. He did not stop there, but continued steadfastly in his studies, qualifying as a chartered accountant in England in 1949.
After qualifying as a chartered accountant, Williams professionally started his career when he took up paid employment with the Colonial office in London. He was thereafter posted to Nigeria, and he returned home in 1950 to take the post of Inspector of Taxes, working with John Selby, whose advice laid his path to considering accountancy as a course.
In 1952 therefore, he left the job and its huge benefits to set up his own firm, Akintola Williams and Co in Lagos. It became the first indigenous chartered accounting firm in Africa. It would be recalled that 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.
With master touches of professionalism, his firm 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 has received many honours.
With his deft moves and diplomatic connections, he 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.
By 1964, the expansion of his firm has started as a branch was opened in the Cameroons. This was followed by branches in Côte d’Ivoire and Swaziland, and affiliates in Ghana, Egypt and Kenya. By March 1992, the company had 19 partners and 535 staff. This obviously attested to the hard work the seasoned accountant has put into his work.
With the advent of the Companies Act of 1968, demand for his services increased. This act 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, and Williams was responsive to all challenges.
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.
Between April 1999 and May 2004, Akintola Williams & Co. merged with two other accounting firms to create Akintola Williams Deloitte, the largest professional services firm in Nigeria with a staff of over 600.
Among many of his achievements, Williams played a leading role in establishing the Association of Accountants in Nigeria in 1960 with the goal of training accountants. He was also the first President of the association as well as the founding member and first president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria. He is very good at creating new things. He was also involved in establishing the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Akintola Williams remained actively involved with these organisations into his old age.
With an eye on due process, he called on operators to protect the stock exchange market and ensure there was no scandal. He said that, if needed, market operators should not hesitate to seek his advice on resolving any problem. He made himself available even as a retiree.
Some of the public sector positions he held are enormous and they include Chairman of the Federal Income Tax Appeal Commissioners (1958–68), member of the Coker Commission of Inquiry into the Statutory Corporations of the former Western Region of Nigeria (1962), member of the board of Trustees of the Commonwealth Foundation (1966–1975), Chairman of the Lagos State Government Revenue Collection Panel (1973) and Chairman of the Public Service Review Panel to correct the anomalies in the Udoji Salary Review Commission (1975).
Other positions include President of the Metropolitan Club in Victoria Island, Lagos, Founder and Council member of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation and Founder and chairman of the board of Trustees of the Musical Society of Nigeria.
In 1982, Williams’ efforts were recognized and he was honoured by the Nigerian Government with the O.F. R. award
Following retirement in 1983, Williams sought to diversify and keep himself busy. That prompted an all new project aimed at establishing a music centre and concert hall for the Music Society of Nigeria.
In April 1997, he was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for services to the accountancy profession and for promotion of arts, culture and music through the Musical Society of Nigeria. The Akintola Williams Arboretum at the Nigerian Conservation Foundation headquarters in Lagos is named in his honour.
As the expansion keeps becoming a recurring decimal, the firm adopted the business name “Akintola Williams Deloitte” on July 30, 2004. It has remained the oldest indigenous firm in Nigeria.
On the 8th of May, 2011, the Nigeria-Britain Association presented awards to John Kufuor, past President of Ghana, and to Akintola Williams, for their contributions to democracy and development in Africa.
A Centenarian of no mean repute, Akintola Williams clocked 100 healthy and productive years on August 9, 2019, drawing accolades from reputable movers and shakers of Nigerian and international business as well as politics.
Sir, for your achievements which are innumerable and the many lives you have touched in your 100 years on earth, and since 1952 when you took the bull by the horn to float your own firm, you are our Boss of the Week.
Congrats and happy birthday sir!
President Bola Tinubu has nominated Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, the immediate past sole administrator of Rivers State and a former Chief of Naval Staff, as a non-career ambassador.
Tinubu also nominated Ita Enang, a former senator; Chioma Ohakim, former First Lady of Imo State; and Abdulrahman Dambazau, former Minister of Interior and ex-Chief of Army Staff, as non-career ambassadors.
The United States Department of State on Wednesday announced that it is outlining new measures to address violence against Christians in Nigeria and other countries.
The policy, according to a statement released by the department, targets radical Islamic terrorists, Fulani ethnic militias, and other actors responsible for killings and attacks on religious communities.
“The United States is taking decisive action in response to the mass killings and attacks on Christians carried out by radical Islamic terrorists, Fulani militias, and other violent groups in Nigeria and beyond,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement.
According to the statement, a new policy under Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act allows the State Department to restrict visas for individuals who have “directed, authorised, significantly supported, participated in, or carried out violations of religious freedom,” and, when appropriate, extend those “restrictions to their immediate family members.”
The briefing, led by House Appropriations Vice Chair and National Security Subcommittee Chairman Mario Díaz-Balart, included members of the House Appropriations and House Foreign Affairs Committees, as well as religious freedom experts.
Participants included Representatives Robert Aderholt, Riley Moore, Brian Mast, Chris Smith, US Commission on International Religious Freedom Chair Vicky Hartzler, Alliance Defending Freedom International’s Sean Nelson, and Dr Ebenezer Obadare of the Council on Foreign Relations.
President Bola Tinubu recently approved Nigeria’s delegation to the new US–Nigeria Joint Working Group, formed to implement security agreements from high-level talks in Washington led by National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu.
The move follows growing concerns over terrorism, banditry, and targeted attacks on Christians in Nigeria, prompting increased US scrutiny and warnings about the protection of vulnerable faith communities.
On November 20, the US House Subcommittee on Africa opened a public hearing to review Trump’s redesignation of Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern, placing the country under heightened scrutiny for alleged religious-freedom violations.
Lawmakers examined the potential consequences of the designation, which could pave the way for sanctions against Nigerian officials found complicit in religious persecution.
The Punch
United States of America lawmakers have sharply contradicted the Nigerian government’s position on the ongoing massacres in the country, describing the violence as “escalating,” “targeted,” and overwhelmingly directed at Christians during a rare joint congressional briefing on Tuesday.
The closed-door session – convened by House Appropriations, Vice Chair Mario Díaz-Balart, as part of a Trump-ordered investigation – examined recent killings and what Congress calls Abuja’s “deeply inadequate” response.
President Trump has asked lawmakers, led by Reps. Riley Moore and Tom Cole, to compile a report on persecution of Nigerian Christians and has even floated the possibility of U.S. military action against Islamist groups responsible for the attacks.
At the briefing, Vicky Hartzler, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, warned that “religious freedom [is] under siege” in Nigeria, citing mass abductions of schoolchildren and assaults in which “radical Muslims kill entire Christian villages [and] burn churches.” She said abuses were “rampant” and “violent,” claiming Christians are targeted “at a 2.2 to 1 rate” compared with Muslims.
While acknowledging Nigeria’s recent move to reassign 100,000 police officers from VIP protection, Hartzler said the country is entering a “coordinated and deeply troubling period of escalated violence.” She urged targeted sanctions, visa bans, asset freezes and tighter conditions on U.S. aid, insisting Abuja must retake villages seized from Christian communities so displaced widows and children can return home.
The strongest rebuke came from Dr. Ebenezer Obadare of the Council on Foreign Relations, who dismissed Abuja’s narrative that the killings are not religiously motivated. He called the idea that extremists attack Muslims and Christians equally a “myth,” stressing the groups operate “for one reason and one reason only: religion.” Higher Muslim casualty figures, he argued, reflect geography, not equal targeting.
Obadare described Boko Haram as fundamentally anti-democratic and accused the Nigerian military of being “too corrupt and incompetent” to defeat jihadist networks without external pressure. He urged Washington to push Nigeria to disband armed religious militias, confront security-sector corruption and respond swiftly to early warnings.
Sean Nelson of ADF International called Nigeria “the deadliest country in the world for Christians,” claiming more Christians are killed there than in all other countries combined and at a rate “five times” higher than Muslims when adjusted for population. He said extremists also kill Muslims who reject violent ideologies, undermining Abuja’s argument that the crisis is driven mainly by crime or communal disputes.
He pressed for tighter oversight on U.S. aid, recommending that some assistance be routed through faith-based groups to avoid corruption. Without “transparency and outside pressure,” he said, “nothing changes.”
Díaz-Balart criticised the Biden administration’s reversal of Trump’s designation of Nigeria as a “country of particular concern” in 2021, saying the decision had “clearly deadly consequences.” Lawmakers from the Appropriations, Foreign Affairs and Financial Services committees signaled further oversight actions as they prepare the Trump-directed report.
Hartzler pointed to recent comments by Nigeria’s Speaker of the House acknowledging a “coordinated and deeply troubling period of escalated violence,” calling it a rare moment of candor. She also welcomed the redeployment of police officers as “a promising start after years of neglect.”
But she stressed that these gestures are far from sufficient, insisting the Nigerian government must demonstrate a real commitment to “quell injustice,” act swiftly on early warnings, and embrace transparency.
The Nigerian Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to source.
