The Chairman of Audit Committee Institute (ACI), Christian Ekeigwe, has called for the establishment of Akintola Williams University of Africa. Ekeigwe who is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and Certified Public Accountant (CPA, Massachusetts), described Mr. Akintola Williams as the father of the accountancy profession in Nigeria, nay, Africa. When established, he said, Akintola Williams University of Africa would be a constant reminder to all accountants in Nigeria and, indeed Africa, of the salient contributions of Pa Akintola Williams to the accountancy profession in Nigeria and the whole of Africa.
Ekeigwe, who made the call in his “A Letter to my Profession III” titled “A Pithy Call for Akintola Williams University of Africa – Generational Gratitude Matters,” said: “Our benefactor, mentor, and doyen, sage and luminary, in the pantheon of accounting, the centenarian Pa Akintola Williams, exerted discretionary energy to grow the profession in our community, for the benefit of posterity.
“For his forbearances, we are beholden to him.” Describing Pa Williams as a “beauteous decoration of accounting and our civilisation,” he said Pa Williams “lives his life affirming the promise of accounting, guarding financial truth, ensures that audited numbers remained inviolate, ensuring the sanctity of illocutionary audit opinion, and did not lead clients and society to trust the untrustworthy.”
Ekeigwe stated that, unarguably, the best way accountants in Nigeria and Africa can say a befitting ‘thank you’ to Pa Williams is to establish a university in his name, noting that the university will also contribute to his wish of leaving a legacy that honours the “promise of accounting” with true professionalism.