Ukaga started her career as a research officer with
UNDP/
World Bank/
WHO Onchocerciasis Control Project in Achi, Oji – River Local Government Area, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu, Department of Pharmacology,
Enugu,
Nigeria (1989–1992) where her duties consisted mainly of the collection, examination and identification/analysis of parasitological data in the environs. She began her career in
Imo State University, Owerri in 1994 as an assistant lecturer in 1994. She rose through the ranks (Lecturer 2, Lecturer 1. Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor) to become a professor of
Public health Parasitology. She has also served as the Director, Consultancy Services Unit of Imo State University Owerri. She is also a certified accreditor of higher institutions. Ukaga was the national president of the Parasitology and Public Health Society of Nigeria 2016 – 2021, an association that champions and brings visibility to
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). As the president, she endorsed the
Abu Dhabi Declaration of Support for an SDG Global Indicator for NTDs. Ukaga was in the team that drew up a framework to guide African nations in creating master-plans for the control and elimination of NTDs in line with WHO Roadmap, 2030. She is a council member (African region), and serves on the Research Grant Committee of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID). She is also the project adviser to S-DELI, an organization that promotes Literacy for the Deaf through sign languages in Nigerian
indigenous languages. She is a Council member, Parasitology and Public Health Society, Nigeria 2021–2024. == Personal life ==