I have tried very hard to watch from the sidelines the outburst by one of Akwa Ibom's finest in Nollywood who doubles as the SA to Akwa Ibom Governor on Tourism, Ini Edo. The reason is simple, given her brand, l needed to take some time out to get the fine details of the ''water that has passed through the bridge '' before weighing on the subject.

The crux of this bruohaha is that the Nollywood figure is allegedly laying claim to the original idea of Orange September which fortunately was a huge success.

Going by my findings, Joseph Utin and Ubong Ekpe both of Akwa Ibom Tourism Development Company practcally wrote the proposal for the Ibom Fest which couldn't hold sequel to the collapse of Reigners Bible Church at the time it was planned. Being a tourism event it naturally will attract a lot of sponsorship which according to them Edo used effectively her vast connection to attract a lot of resources in from the corporate world, blue Chip outlets and individuals. This had absolutely nothing to do with Orange September event.

The beef is sequel to the tourism consultants insisting that they be properly paid for for their consultancy rather than look the other way by the Actress. Ini Edo got a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN to pen down a petition to the IG of Police to get those Tourism consultants arrested according to my findings.

The story is that they were paid N1m each which was grossly inadequate to the terms of engagement even though the Gov's Aide is of the view that she placed them on a monthly take home of N50,000 .

More revealing is the fact that lni Edo was informed about Orange September plannings by the organisers in her capacity as SA to the Gov on Tourism and she requested that one of the events in the Orange September be given to her to run but the organisers had insisted she comes take up one of the sub committees and head rather than run a component of the Orange September herself for effective supervision she translated her non-acceptance to being absent herself from the entire event. The question is why didn't she raise the alarm at the time if her claim holds water of owning the idea of Orange September? One thing that should be paramount from the foregoing is that people should always learn to keep to their business terms rather than use their privileged positions to scuttle such terns.

The Actress cannot in her good conscience lay claim to the boat regatta, food festival and other content of the successful Orange September.

The Ndoko event for instance was successful because the organisers, Akwa Ibom Ministry of Culture and Tourism had insisted that they supervise all sides of the Orange September to ensure success.

Honestly, l strongly believe that there was no need for this public attention by the Actress as all she needed to do was to sit the consultants down and explain to them the funding status of the failed Ibom Fest as was the case while the Tourism Consultants drafted the proposal for Ibom Fest and see what could be added to the consultants by way of pecuniary benefits . l understand that in an attempt to carry her along during the Orange September given her office, she will always be on the move, Port Harcourt, Lagos, Abuja etc .

In case the Nollywood Actress didn't know this action of hers has given her a low PR before her fans and the question is, how did she get here ?

What is even more worrisome is the fact that, most likely her employer, Akwa Ibom Governor may not have known before she involved the police. The other revelation in the saga is that while the ibomfest planning lasted, Edo used the Tourism consultants office along Oron road, Uyo without paying for the work space.

On a close look at the two proposals, that is Ibom Fest and Orange September, the content and more are not the same Let it not be seen that she is asking for public sympathy for not performing in office coupled with the frustration by Glo, the compelling telecommunications giant having called off her Ambassadorial status.

Can't she reason like Rt. Hon Victor Antai who got three of the consultants cars after a rigorous planning and execution of the Orange September in appreciation. Let her understand that it is not the Tourism consultants making that the Ibom Fest couldn't hold.

Both Ini Edo and Rt Hon Victor Antai are to my mind assets to Akwa Ibom, the thinking should be more on moving our State forward and not this pettiness.

There is no need to get this whole issue twisted and be in the news for the wrong reasons . The successful orange September is NOT the brainchild of Ini Edo as it now being alluded to by her Lawyers but what needs to be addressed is that she needs to reconcile with the Tourism consultants and not intimidate them with police arrest and subsequent prosecution having in mind that, it is amazing what she could have achieved if she was not insisting on who takes the glory ''.

(C) Anny Michaels