Who is who in the Accountancy Profession??

Chief. Akintola Williams
Doyen of Accounting

The history of the Accounting profession in Africa can never be complete without mentioning the name of the Doyen himself (Pa Akintola Williams ). Pa Akintola Williams is the first African to qualify as a Chartered Accountant. Also, he is the first president of the prestigious Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.
It is a privilege to share with you all the profile of Africa's Doyen of Accounting.

Background:
Chief Akintola Williams was born on 9th of August 1919.He began his education at Olowogbowo Methodist Primary School, Bankole street Apongbon, Lagos Island, Lagos state Nigeria in the early 1930s. Pa Akintola Williams also 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 where he studied 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.
Career:
After returning to Nigeria in 1950 ,Pa Akintola 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.
 In October 1957, having grown steadily, Akintola Williams & Co. was able to admit its first partner: Charles Sankey. Since then the firm has grown from strength to strength, eventually becoming Nigeria's largest professional services firm following two mergers between April 1999 and May 2004. The firm today has more than 600 members of staff and operates under the name of Akintola Williams Deloitte.

Pa Akintola Williams played a leading role in establishing the Association of Accountants in Nigeria (AAN) in 1960 with the goal of training accountants. He was the first President of the association. He was founding member and first president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).He was also involved in establishing the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Pa Akintola Williams motivated and mentored many young Nigerians who followed in his footsteps and became qualified chartered accountants in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
 He remained actively involved with these organisations into his old age.

In 1982 Pa Akintola Williams was honoured by the Nigerian Government with the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR). Following his retirement in 1983, Pa Akintola Williams threw himself into a project to establish a music centre and concert hall for the Music Society of Nigeria.In April 1997 Pa Akintola Williams was appointed as 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. On 8 May 2011 the Nigeria-Britain Association presented awards to John Kufuor, past President of Ghana, and to Akintola Williams, with awards for their contributions to democracy and development in Africa.
Sources:
www.Wikipedia.com
www.zodml.org