Mr. Akintola Williams, one of Nigeria’s most distinguished living legends, clocked 102 on Monday, August 9.

He was treated to a modest reception, which took place at Muson Centre, Onikan Lagos.

Pa Williams, the doyen of the accountancy profession in Nigeria, is the first chartered accountant in Africa — he was 30 years old when he achieved that feat.

He is one of the founding fathers of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), as well as the founding member and first president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Musical Society of Nigeria (Muson Centre).

Pa 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.

Between April 1999 and May 2004, Akintola Williams & Co. merged with two other accounting firms to create Akintola Williams Deloitte (now known as Deloitte & Touche), the largest professional service firm in Nigeria with a staff of over 600.