By Ambassador Godknows Igali
The word “Titan” is derived from the panoply of divine beings and mythologies that give ancient Greek literature special savour in literary circles. Today, the usage “titan” is often ascribed to someone who is god-like and influential in given fields. On 4th September 2024, that word resurfaced compellingly in Lagos to remember a contemporary giant, Pa Akintola Williams, one year after his departure on 11th September 2023.
The glitterati and optics were deservedly grand, with celebrated Nigerian public figures, like the former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, in attendance.
Nigerians and, to a large extent, the global community will, for genuine reasons, celebrate the remarkable life of this iconic figure who lived a full and vibrant 104 years. His exceptional professional achievements, devotion to good causes, bond to community and dedication to national altruism left an indelible mark on the lives of all who knew him.
As a true national and professional leader, he mentored and guided others, lending his lifelong knowledge of figures and financial matters to development of the national economy and to build a better Nigeria.
A Towering Professional Footprint
Very few Nigerians before him, and even now, have made the kind of impact on national life as has been done by Pa Williams. He was rightly known as the doyen of Nigeria’s private sector as his legacy touched virtually every aspect of the business world.
Primarily, his professional patrimony was in Accountancy where he became the first Nigerian to be qualified, and years later, in 1952, he founded a home-grown firm known as Akintola Williams & Co. This he did after a stint in the Civil Service as an Assessment Officer with the then Inland Revenue Service.
At the time when Pa Williams established his company no other African had such an outfit with the capacity to challenge the dominant foreign firms that controlled the auditing profession. In doing so, he consolidated his practice and became a mentor to almost every other Nigerian and West African who took to that profession. His firm also became the breeding ground for several generations of accountants who needed to undertake professional pupillage.
Though the first African to qualify as a Chartered Accountant, he knew when it was time to break off from the parent body – Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (ACCA) of England and Wales, which has existed since 1904.
Together with a handful of Nigerians of like minds, including his friend and in-law, Chief F.C.O. Coker, who were also holders of ACCA, a professional organisation in the sector known as the Association of Accountants of Nigeria (AAN), came into being in 1960. Thereafter, they started to work towards having a body that was chartered and created by an Act of Parliament, a feat which was attained on 1st September, 1965 with Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) as name.
The new body was to keep the highest level of professionalism in the accountancy profession by training and mentoring practitioners. Pa Williams headed the Association of Accountants of Nigeria (AAN) from 1960 to 1962 and yielded to Chief Coker, whose tenure continued from 1962 to 1966, during which period ICAN emerged. Thereafter, he personally nurtured all the other 58 men and women who have come to lead ICAN throughout its existence.
As was expected, ICAN maintained the same standards and qualities it inherited from the ACCA of England and Wales and sustained the highest norms of practice. This enabled ICAN to earn for itself a name and in the course of time, obtained accreditation to the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC), the global supervising body for the profession which came into being in June 1973 (International Accounting Standards Board).
In all of these international bodies, Pa Williams enjoyed a reputation as one of the most respected and sat on their Boards for years. He had among his contemporaries on the world scene such notables as Sir N.O. Benson of the United Kingdom, John Cumming of the United States, Joseph Hepworth of Australia, Steven Elliot of Canada and John Kirkpatrick, all of whom are most outstanding accountants.
Today, ICAN has over 60,000 members in Nigeria and branches in virtually every major city. Indeed, ICAN certificates are much valued and serve as additional requirement for recruitment and career progression in many establishments in both public and private sectors.
When a new body, the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) was chartered by an Act of Parliament in 1993, the presence of Akintola Williams helped to douse the high tension and cut throat rivalry between the two institutions. Although he was doyen of ICAN, he saw the entire profession as his domain and helped to restore order.
In course of time, he merged his company, Akintola Williams with erstwhile rival international accounting firm, Deloitte, forming Akintola Williams and Deloitte, thereby becoming the largest professional service firm in the sector in Nigeria. That notwithstanding, he kept his tentacles and fatherly coverage over the entire profession in the country.
A Business Maestro
Realising the connection between practice of Accountancy and the national economy, he worked assiduously towards the establishment of a viable Stock Exchange in Nigeria, insisting that financial instruments like stocks and bonds may be traded effectively, for Nigeria to take itself to be the premier platform in Africa for raising capital and facilitating a thriving market for securities.
As part of this economic nationalism, Williams, along with his peers, Theophilus Adebayo Doherty, Sir Odumegwu Ojukwu, Alhaji Shehu Buba and their foreign partner, John Holt Limited, undertook this huge exercise to create a market where trading could be in Nigerian currency.
The Lagos Stock Exchange (LSE) as it was called then was established in 1961 and formatted to grow to come at par with the New York and London Stock Exchanges.
Today, the Nigeria Stock Exchange, which it has evolved into, has a total of 393 listed securities, comprising 161 companies and a robust fixed income market with at least 84 Federal Government Bonds, 21 State Bonds and 27 Corporate Bonds. Its total market capitalisation is over N56.45 Trillion.
In the real economy, Akintola Williams became the moving spirit behind so many business ventures, which included Chairmanship positions at the founding days at Nigeria Breweries Limited, Guinness Nigeria, Wema Bank, CFAO Nigeria, Nigeria Tobacco Ltd, United Bank of Africa, Nigeria Industrial Development Bank, (NIDB), and Chartered Institute of Bankers.
In terms of professional bodies, he was also one of the brains behind the founding of Nigerian Institute of Bankers (NIB), Nigerian Institute of Management, Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the African Business Roundtable. He also played a cardinal role in the growth of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and the Nigeria Economic Society.
Dr Igali is a career diplomat, award-winning writer and retired Federal Permanent Secretary in Nigeria
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