Glad to find that I still have a copy of this book, a pioneering work on Nigerian archeology. “Aspects of the Nok Culture” by J.F. Jemkur has been appropriately described as a successor to the work of the late Bernard Fagg – the “Father of the Jos Museum” and the founder of the Nok Culture – who died in 1987.
I was rummaging through my library looking for published works on the Jema’a Emirate of Kaduna State and the general Southern Kaduna area when I stumbled on this rare book. I had bought it over a decade ago, probably even around 1992 when it was published by the ABU Press, Zaria. It addresses some of the issues I was looking for, of course from the archaeological point of view.
And I ask: where is Mr. Jemkur now? The Langtang man used to be with ABU Zaria. A member of the World Archaeological Congress, he was one of the distinguished Nigerian scholars that have remained uncelebrated, which is grossly unfair considering his immense contribution to the history of our country. Born in 1949, he is probably in retirement as a professor now. Someone should please find him and hail him.
ENDNOTE
After posting this piece on Facebook, I received a heart-warming response from Prof. Audi Tanimu Giwa (formerly of ABU Zaria and now a senior lecturer at Kaduna State University) who said: “It is my singular honour to tell you I edited this particular book. Prof. Jemkur was a great academic.
“Prof. Jemkur is very much alive. Indeed the University of Jos, from where he retired, is right now considering engaging him again on contract basis.”
