When Ms Bridget Bonnie Agbenyor became the first female Student’s Representative Council (SRC) President for the Wisconsin International University College, Ghana (WIUC-Gh) in 2019, many thought it was just a fluke.
But for her, it was a launch pad to her political ambition.
It was a major step towards attaining the ultimate of securing the highest political position in the country.
The 32-year-old dynamic and eloquent Ms Bonnie has since positioned herself as one of the young voices within Ghana’s political space currently.
The Founder of 18Plus4NDC, a network of social democrats that upholds the principles and values of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), believes she is the next big thing in Ghana politics.
Before becoming the SRC President, she pursued her first degree in Communications. She was the Public Relations Officer (PRO) for the SRC at Lister Professional Institute in 2014 where she attained a diploma in Marketing.
Then at Wisconsin, she became the Deputy Inter-Communications Person for the SRC while in level 100 and 200 before going for the ultimate SRC President in level 300.
In her view, she needed the power to address the grievances of students and attaining the highest position in students’ politics.
One of her biggest achievements as the SRC President, was to form the Greater Accra SRC Presidential Caucus which brought together all colleague Presidents within the region to undertake several humanitarian projects in a bid to impact on society.
Aside leading the 18Plus4NDC, she was recently appointed as a member of the National Youth Wing Committee of the party.
While contesting to become President, she was advised to settle for either the Vice or Women’s Commissioner but threw caution to the wind and went all out for the top position.
Following her regular visits to rural communities, she observed that, many young people were not in school. Essentially, those children could benefit from skills training to become entrepreneurs or gainfully employed.
Ms Bonnie also recommended an improvement in the agricultural sector by getting warehouses in villages and making their roads better to transport produce to the capital and other parts of the country.
Implementing some sound economic policies like the ‘24-hour economy policy’ that would ensure that companies operate day and night, in her view would turn around the fortunes of the country for the better.
She explained that the policy would ensure workers run the shift system where people can work for few hours and make way for others, with the cycle continuing for 24 hours.
Getting enough resources has been a major challenge in her bid to impact on society as they travel very often without money or logistics.
Aside that, doing politics and working is another challenge she is facing as there is usually limited time to travel.
The Digital Marketing Executive and Social Entrepreneur has worked in places including Dalex Finance, ViPit Africa and is now the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pardia Multimedia rebranded as the Bridge Consult.
She attained her Senior High education at Ada Senior High School in 2011, holds a certificate in Radio and Television Presentation from the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) and Masters in Brands and Communications Management from the University of Professional Studies Accra (UPSA).
Ms Bonnie(third left) with Media Personality Gifty Anti and some members of 18Plus4NDC
Ms Bonnie(third left) with Media Personality Gifty Anti and some members of 18Plus4NDC
Her hobbies are sight-seeing and reading, and fulfilled when she impacts on someone’s life. To achieve her desire of impacting on people’s lives, she runs the ‘Bridget Bonnie and Friends’ Foundation where they provide financial support for the needy but brilliant students from Junior High Schools to universities.
They also engage in blood donations and recently presented relief items to victims of the Akosombo Dam spillage.
If having a dream and working towards achieving same is the way to achieve success, Bridget Bonnie seems to be on the right path to making history as one of Africa’s few female Presidents.
By Michael D. Abayateye