Tarkwa: The Life and Times of a Great Mathematician.

In the quiet, thoughtful town of Umuaka, where stories are told under the shade of old trees and memories travel faster than the wind, one name has long stood like a pillar of pride; Mr Johngaulbert Okechukwu Onumara, fondly known as Tarkwa during his lifetime by close associates especially in Umuaka.

Today, that name echoes differently as it is spoken with tears because the great mathematical masquerade is no more.

Tarkwa was not just a man; he was a man who possessed the mental agility to navigate complex situations, drive innovations and maintain strong leadership qualities. He was highly disciplined and deeply devoted to knowledge and impacting the knowledge to others. Born on the 12th of May 1965, into the respected family of the late Mr. O.J. Onumara, himself a renowned teacher, it was almost as if teaching ran in the DNA of the family. From an early age, young Tarkwa showed signs of brilliance that would later define his entire life.

He walked the familiar paths of Central School Atta and later Umuaka High School, where numbers first began to dance at his command. Mathematics was not a subject to him it was indeed a language he spoke fluently, passionately, and with rare elegance. The guy was indeed a moving mathematics many people who passed through High School Umuaka knew!

As Tarkwa grew, so did his hunger for knowledge. From the lecture halls of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, where he studied Nuclear Physics, to Bayero University Kano, where he earned his Master’s degree and pursued a Doctorate in Physics, Tarkwa carved for himself a path of intellectual excellence that few could rival. But for all his academic achievements, Tarkwa chose a simpler, nobler calling: teaching!

In classrooms across Jigawa State under the Ministry of Education, Tarkwa became more than a teacher; he became a guide, a mentor, a builder of minds to students. Students who once feared mathematics found confidence in his calm explanations. Equations became stories. Formulas became tools of empowerment.

Umuaka Times gathered from one of his students that Tarkwa had a gift which is an uncommon ability to make complex mathematical questions seem simple and he indeed gave that gift freely to his students.

His legacy was not only written on blackboards but also in books. Through works like Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis, First Principles for SSS Students, Secrets of Chemistry Practical, and Physics Asset: Secrets of Mechanics, Tarkwa extended his classroom beyond walls, reaching students he would never meet. Even in print, his voice taught.

Back home in Umuaka, he was a symbol of what was possible. Parents pointed at him with pride. Young boys and girls whispered his name as inspiration to continue the pursuit of their academic programs. He was a proof that from Acharaji Akah, greatness could rise and shine across Nigeria.

And then, suddenly he was gone. No long goodbye. No final lecture. Just silence where once there was clarity.

Today, Umuaka mourns, his former students mourn, the entire Achara community and those who were privileged to have met him are mourning.

The streets feel heavier because the air carries a quiet disbelief. In homes across the town of Umuaka, elders shake their heads slowly, speaking of a life too valuable to be lost so soon. His peers remember his humility, his discipline, his unwavering commitment to truth and knowledge.

But perhaps the deepest grief lives in the hearts of his students.

Across years and distances, they remember him not just as “Mr. Onumara,” but as Tarkwa, the teacher who refused to give up on them. The one who stayed after class. The one who believed they could understand. The one who made them believe in themselves.

Some students who went under his training are now engineers, teachers, doctors and professionals in their own right. They are still trying their best to process the heavy loss, stand still, trying to process the loss of the man who shaped their beginnings.

Many say the same quiet words: “If not for Tarkwa, I wouldn’t be who I am today.”

At home, he was a husband, a father of five, a man of responsibility and quiet strength. To his family, the loss is not just of a scholar, but of a pillar, a voice, a presence, a protector. Death has taken Tarkwa, but it has not taken his impact because every student he taught carries a part of him. Every lesson he gave still lives in minds across generations. Every life he changed stands as a testimony.

In Umuaka, as the sun sets and rises again, one truth remains: Great teachers never truly die. They live on in the knowledge they give and the lives they shape. Achara mourns! Former students and former classmates mourn! Umuaka Times mourns!

Mr Johngaulbert Okechukwu Onumara, fondly known as Tarkwa was born on 12 May 1965 and he passed away on 5th of March 2026 after a brief illness in the Northern part of Nigeria where he resided.