...As Council Chair Seeks Residents’ Cooperation
The Cross River State Government, with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has concluded the final state-level certification protocol to declare Ogoja Local Government Area Open Defecation Free (ODF).
The certification exercise was conducted in June 2026 by the State Task Group on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (STG-WASH) under the Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) initiative. It forms part of the broader Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)/WASH programme jointly implemented by the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWATSA) with support from UNICEF.
A total of 372 communities in Ogoja have been assessed and certified by STG-WASH for ODF compliance. The certification is now awaiting validation and formal declaration by the National Task Group on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (NTG- WASH).
Speaking on the integration of WASH into the NTD elimination programme, Kelly Odoni, State WASH-NTDs Facilitator, explained that sustainable disease elimination cannot be achieved through medical treatment alone. "NTDs such as Soil-Transmitted Helminthiasis (STH), schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis, and lymphatic filariasis are closely tied to poor water and sanitation conditions," Odoni stated.
"Cross River State's WASH access data show that only 49% of residents use basic water services, and just 32% have access to basic hygiene facilities. In an area like Ogoja, where open defecation and contaminated water sources were prevalent before our intervention, mass drug administration and hydrocele surgeries can only temporarily reduce disease burden.
"However, without safe water, functional latrines, and consistent hygiene practices, transmission cycles continue, and communities remain vulnerable to reinfection. This is why UNICEF and its partners have moved beyond curative interventions to invest directly in preventive infrastructure and behaviour change in Ogoja.
"UNICEF and other partners have committed over ₦50 million toward integrating WASH interventions in the LGA, with the goal of achieving ODF status across the area. By pairing treatment campaigns with lasting improvements in water access, sanitation, and hygiene behaviour, we aim to break the environmental conditions that sustain NTD transmission, making elimination durable rather than a cycle of repeated intervention," he added, soliciting the cooperation of all stakeholders in Ogoja to ensure the programme's successful implementation.
In his remarks, the Chairman of Ogoja LGA, Hon. Christopher Agbeh, commended UNICEF for its service to the area and expressed gratitude to residents for their cooperation with the CLTS process, describing their participation as pivotal to the progress recorded so far.
"Our people have shown remarkable discipline and commitment to this process. Their cooperation has brought us this far, and we are hopeful that Ogoja will soon be certified Open Defecation Free," Agbeh said.
He assured that the council administration would continue to support communities through the construction of household and public toilets, as well as sustained sensitisation campaigns, to help meet all benchmarks required for ODF certification.
STG-WASH Team Lead Engr. Kanu Eni, Director of Water Supply and Quality Control at the State Ministry of Water Resources, lauded UNICEF for the initiative and expressed optimism that the exercise would be extended to other communities burdened by NTD infections.
Also speaking while in the field, the Clan Head of Nwang, His Royal Highness Ntul Godwin Ejogor, described the impending certification as a milestone that would usher in a new lease of life for his community and the entire LGA.
"It will be a thing of great joy if my community and indeed Ogoja becomes Open Defecation Free, because this will herald a new lease of life and the elimination of waterborne diseases and other neglected tropical infections that our people are facing," Ejogor said.
"We have constituted a task force that has commenced enforcement, and we are ready to sustain this programme because it is for the good of our people and the well-being of the vulnerable, especially our women and children. The WASHCOM and the sanitation task force have been activated, and we have mandated them to enforce compliance, because we cannot risk the lives of our children again to the cholera outbreak that occurred last year, which claimed the lives of our children," he added.
Early assessments by the Ogoja WASH Department confirm that the communities meet national ODF validation standards.
