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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!
Nigeria on Wednesday made a high-level presentation to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) in London, United Kingdom, as part of efforts to advance its bid to host the 2030 centenary edition of the Commonwealth Games.
The Nigerian delegation, led by Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Mallam Shehu Dikko, and Director General, Hon. Bukola Olopade, emphasised that the bid is an opportunity to foster a shared legacy that epitomises the Commonwealth spirit.
Nigeria presented an all-inclusive bid, with focus areas such as sports excellence, arts, international cultural exchange, tapping into a budding creative economy, building a new shared commonwealth legacy and shaping the future of the African youth.
The bid reflects the core values of Commonwealth Sport: More in Common, Equality, Humanity, and Destiny. The Abuja 2030 Games are designed to bring people together through the power of sport, reaching across gender, disability, culture, ethnicity, age, and background. They will celebrate what binds the Commonwealth together, fostering solidarity while opening pathways for more people to succeed in sport.
The bid also represents equality by offering Africa, for the first time in 100 years, the chance to host the Games. It reflects humanity by promising to transform lives and turn one million dreams into one million skills.
Also, it embodies destiny by positioning the Centennial Games in Nigeria as a defining moment that will shape the next century of the Commonwealth through youth, skills, and inclusive growth.
The delegation included the Bid Coordinator, Mallam Mainasara Ilo; the President of the Nigerian Olympic Committee, Engr. Habu Gumel, Minister of Arts and Culture, Hannatu Musawa, Presidential Spokesperson, Hon. Sunday Dare, former Olympian and 2-time Commonwealth gold medalist, Mary Onyali, and current world number one para-badminton player, Eniola Bolaji.
Nigeria’s Abuja 2030 bid is presented as an opportunity to shape the next century of the Commonwealth through humanity, equality, and shared destiny, ensuring that Africa’s youth are an important part of the future.
President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday conferred national honours of the Commander of the Order of the Niger posthumously on four late Ogoni leaders.
They are Albert Badey, Edward Kobani, Theophilus Orage, and Samuel Orage, popularly remembered as the Ogoni Four.
Tinubu announced the conferment when he received the report of the Ogoni Consultations Committee at the State House, Abuja, on Wednesday.
He urged the people of Ogoniland to embrace reconciliation and unity after decades of division.
“May their memories continue to inspire unity, courage and purpose among us.
“I urge the Ogoni people across classes, communities and generations to close ranks, put this dark chapter behind us and move forward as a united community with one voice,” Tinubu said.
Wednesday’s meeting comes 16 months after the President, in May 2024, promised to “pursue diligently and honourably” the Ogoni cleanup and increase the number of its indigenes benefitting from its empowerment programmes.
Tinubu also pledged his commitment to unlocking the human and natural resource potential of Ogoniland while ensuring the environmental and economic security of Nigerian communities.
At the meeting, the President assured stakeholders that his administration would support the journey of Ogoniland towards peace, environmental remediation, and economic revival, while also facilitating the return of oil exploration to the area.
He stated, “I am encouraged by the overwhelming consensus of the Ogoni communities to welcome the resumption of oil production.
“The government will deploy every resource to support your people in this march towards shared prosperity.”
Tinubu cited developments in 2022 when the Buhari administration transferred the operations of the Ogoni oil field to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and its joint venture partners.
He argued that his government would honour and build on Buhari’s decision.
In his closing remarks, Tinubu called on the people to seize the moment, saying, “Let us together turn pain into purpose, conflict into cooperation, and transform the wealth beneath Ogoni soil into a blessing for the people and for Nigeria.”
Consequently, he directed the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, to commence engagement between the Ogoni people, NNPCL, its partners, and all relevant stakeholders to finalise modalities for restarting operations.
“A dead asset is not valuable to the community, the country or the people.
“The longer we procrastinate, the worse it is for everyone,” the President said.
He also directed the Minister of Environment to integrate pollution remediation and environmental recovery into the broader framework of dialogue with the people.
The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, who presented the report, said the consultations included all four Ogoni zones, with input from local communities, traditional leaders, and the diaspora.
Ribadu said, “In all aspects of our national life, Ogoni is one, thirty-something years of very unfortunate history rewrite the wrong now,
“To us was instruction, then we carry out this dialogue, community engagement, talking with the people and getting to understand how to move forward. It has succeeded like what you have seen today.
“He gave directives to all government agencies and institutions and also directly to our office that we must implement everything that have been agreed and we have taken it.”
Ribadu affirmed that his office, alongside all relevant agencies, is committed to restoring peace in Ogoniland.
“We will make sure that we follow his own directives and his instructions.
“We are going to make sure that peace is restored already, it is, and hopefully you will see the benefit of it not just in Ogoni land but the entire Niger Delta and by extension Nigeria,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Dialogue Committee, Prof. Don Baridam, noted that the committee ensured all stakeholders were carried along in the process, noting that the report reflects the collective will of the Ogoni people.
Baridam said the report captured the people’s demands for structured participation in oil production, renewed environmental cleanup, and a framework for sustainable development.
Oil was first commercially discovered in Oloibiri, Ogoniland, in 1958. However, exploration stopped in 1993 following sustained protests against environmental degradation and injustice.
The Ogoni Four refers to four traditional chiefs from the Ogoni community in Rivers State who were murdered on May 21, 1994, in the village of Giokoo.
The killings took place against the backdrop of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People campaign, led by writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, which had been mobilising the Ogoni against oil companies, particularly Shell, and the Nigerian state.
The subsequent struggles of Ogoni leaders to protect their environment from harmful oil exploration were met with severe repression, culminating in the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa and nine other leaders by the Abacha regime in 1995.
The Punch
Headlines
Tinubu Holds Closed-door Meeting with Rivers Ex-administrator Ibas, EFCC Chair, Fin Minister
President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday evening, summoned the immediate past Sole Administrator of Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd.), to the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Ibas, who arrived at the State House at about 5:50 pm dressed in brown native attire, was accompanied to the meeting by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, and Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede.
Earlier, Edun had been sighted entering the villa briefly before leaving, only to return later carrying a file, underscoring the gravity of the engagement with the President.
Vice Admiral Ibas ceased to function as administrator of the oil-rich State on September 17, following the termination of the six-month emergency rule imposed in March.
President Tinubu had directed the reinstatement of the suspended governor, Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, and members of the Rivers State House of Assembly from the previous Thursday.
During its first sitting after the end of emergency rule, the Rivers State House of Assembly, presided over by Speaker Martin Amaewhule, resolved to investigate the management of State funds under Ibas’ tenure.
Lawmakers specifically resolved “to explore the process of knowing what transpired during the emergency rule about spending from the consolidated revenue fund for the award of contracts and other expenditures.”
Ibas, however, has publicly rejected the decision to probe the State’s expenditure during his six months in office.
Official records show that Rivers State received at least N254.37 billion from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) between March and August 2025, covering the period Ibas served as sole administrator.
Details of the closed-door meeting were yet to be made public as of press time.
