Prominent Towns in Cross-River

Ogoja
Latitude:   6.6584       Lat (DMS)               6° 39' 30N
Longitude: 8.7992       Long (DMS)             8° 47' 57E
Elevation (Feet): 830
Population Est.:  171,901
Zipcode:  550101

History
Ogoja is a big town in Cross River State, Nigeria.“The name Ogoja” is wildly used in Northern Cross River it is one of the Local Government Area in Cross River Its headquarters is Ogoja town  It has an area of 972 km² and a population of 171,901 at the 2006 census. The people of Ekoi are the major habitants of the city, the town was one of the provinces during pre-colonial independence. It consists of many tribes, which includes: Ishibori (This village has different clans like Uhmuria, Ikaptang, Ikajor, Ishinyema, Ikariku, Imerakorm) and Igoli as the central town. Mbube being one of the major tribes consist of different villages which includes: Odajie, Adagum, Ekumtak, Idum, Ojerim, Egbe,Nkim, Ogberia Ogang & Ogberia Ochoro,Oboso,Benkpe, Edide, Bansan, Aragban etc. their major source of livelihood is subsistence agriculture, basically farming of cassava, yams, palm oil, palm wine etc. Ekajuk, is one of the major clan in Ogoja Local government area. Divided into Ward I and Ward II, and includes major Communities such as Nwang, Ekpogrinya, Esham, Egbong, Nnang, Ewinimba, and Bansara (which are collection of a group of villages).

The city economy is majorly dependent on agriculture, the planting and trading of Yams, Cassava, Corn, Rice Palm oil and many more. Ogoja is home to the Federal College of Science.
The influence of the early missionaries was significantly felt in the area, thus, Christianity is the predominant religion. The area is also endowed with different cultural value and some of them are revived and modernized to emphasize the cultural heritage of the people.
In aspect of education the Roman Catholic Mission was the first to penetrate the area through Calabar, the Eastern Headquarters of the Church. Thus, between 1906 and 1930, all the communities in Ogoja Local Government Area has felt the impact of the RCM and the Church of Scotland Missions. There are also notable schools like The Saint Thomas Training College established in 1948, Government Technical College which started as PTC in 1950, Holy Child Secondary School Mount Carmel, Annunciation Secondary School. There are also vocational institutes at Igoli, Adagon and Ogboja and the Women Education Center at Mbube.
Ogoja is well blessed with highly tropical climate, well marked by wet and dry seasons. The area is also blessed with food crops and very rich trees of different species. The area is also blessed with large quarry rich with by-product which could be used for industrial and commercial activities.
The oldest Primary school in the area, Saint Benedict’s was established in 1906 by the Roman Catholic Mission.
The Ogoja people have various market such as Ishibori and Ogboja in Ogoja Urban, Odajie, Idum and Ojerim in Mbube, Ogidi, Ukpa and Afrike in Bekwarra and Ndok, Aladim, generally they operate a five-day market.
There is also the the Okpe and Ogoja Ndem markets. Markets such as Ishibori and Ogboja operate daily. Items such as garri, beans, yams, maize and vegetables are all sold here. There are several super markets at Igli and Abakpa as well as several provision stores in all the communities.