Joshua Oderinde, a former Chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Ikeja District, has described the late Chief Akintola Williams as a blessing to the accounting profession in the country.
Oderinde said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on the death of Williams, who died in his sleep on Monday morning at the age of 104 years.
“Williams has much impressive performance during his lifetime and the memory of him is full of positive impacts.
“He was a father to all and a good example to follow. We called him doyen of accounting profession in Nigeria and Africa at large.
“He was full of words of encouragement to both young and old in the industry.
“As a young man, Akintola Wiiliams inspired me to go into the accounting profession .He was the first man to qualify as a chartered accountant in Nigeria.
“His enormous contributions to the development of accounting profession cannot be overruled”
“May God grant his soul eternal rest and comfort his family,” Oderinde said.
Also, Dr Tunde Adeoye, an associate professor, commiserated with the family of Williams and Nigerians at large over the death of the accountant. Adeoye said that Nigeria had just lost one of its industrious sons who made his mark in the accounting profession.
Adeoye said that the late Williams, who became chartered accountant in 1947, was instrumental and contributed to the establishment of the well-known ICAN. He also said that he contributed immensely to development of that profession.
“My prayer is that the Almighty will condole the immediate family he left behind and grant them to fortitude to bear the loss.” he said.
Dr Muda Yusuf, the Chief Executive Officer, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), also said that Williams was a great accountant and a trailblazer
“Being the first indigenous professionally qualified accountant, he was was able to set up a standard accounting firm, comparable to most international one.
“He was noted for his high integrity on the job”, he noted.
NAN reports that Williams was the country’s first indigenous chartered accountant, who pioneered Nigeria’s accounting profession. Born in 1919, he was instrumental in developing the country’s financial sector.
The renowned accountant studied accounting at the University of London and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1947. He returned to Nigeria and later set up his accounting firm, Akintola Williams & Co., now Deloitte & Touche, in 1952.
Williams was also a strong advocate for developing the accounting profession in Nigeria. He was a founding member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and was president from 1963 to 1965.