WELCOME TO LAGOS!

 WELCOME TO LAGOS!

The Muhammadu Buhari campaign train will roll into Lagos today. If you have anything to do around Teslim Balogun Stadium today, please forget it. The place will be taken over by a mammoth crowd that has come to partake in Nigeria's currently most booming business, election campaigns.

If you are a printer and you cannot make money now, guy, when are you going to make it? If you are in the business of supplying public address systems and you are not laughing to the bank these days, better go to your village and ask questions. If you make a living from renting a crowd, business has to be very good.

In every state, there is a huge crowd that has come to see the politicians make promises and promises. "My crowd is bigger than yours" is the new game in town.

Ask me and I will tell you that the crowds do not represent a love for the politicians. They represent the deep level of unemployment in the land. Truly employed people do not leave their jobs to go to political rallies.

I guarantee you that Western Avenue and Alhaji Masha streets in Surulere will be no go areas today. Poor LASTMA guys! There clearly will be a crowd like no other. After all, Lagos is the home of the Jagaban, the politician who can fix anything fixable.

There will be a lot of speeches. Trust Adams Oshiomhole to dance. And everyone will hold his breath when it is time for the President to speak. Will he finish without a big gaff?

In 2015, Nigerians were sold a mystical candidate in Muhammadu Buhari. The Nigerian intelligentsia bought Buhari, hook, line and sinker, adopted him and campaigned for him. We wanted change. I know a lot of my friends who were ready to go to war because of our faith in PMB. There are those who have blamed me for what they consider the PMB misadventure. Not even PMB's most passionate supporter will tell you that now and again, he has not been left bemused by what our President has said or done. With Buhari, I may have made a mistake but it was a mistake of the heart made by millions of other Nigerians. Simply put, Buhari has let us down. I hope that PMB will one day write a book and tell us how we got it so wrong and the falcon stopped hearing the falconer.

Despite the large crowd at today's mega rally, I wonder if the Buhari camp does not understand that the ground has shifted significantly. Nothing can be taken for granted anymore. Any close watcher of Nigerian politics will tell you that Buhari no longer has the north in his pocket the way he used to. That almost fanatical followership is gone. Tinubu may also no longer control Lagos the way he used to.

Please forget the drama in Ohaneze, the Obiano mishap or the IPOB boycott demand. If Buhari makes any significant inroads into Igbo land this year, that will be bigger than the miracle of Daman. How will that happen? After the Python Dance?

Do they get it? Is that why they are campaigning fiercely even into injury time. A campaign rally is a communication event. Unfortunately, in a world driven by communications, our President simply does not communicate. In fact, he appears to be disconnected much of the time.

I am so sorry, the Buhari mystic we bought in 2015 is gone and gone with it is the Nigerian intelligentsia that fought for Buhari everywhere. That is why stupid stories like Jubril, the Sudanese man in Aso Rock and the certificate matter can gain the kind of traction they have gained. The adversaries of our president want to turn him into a joke. You think it does not matter?

I have wondered who has the ears of the President. Does he know the extent of the damage? Does he know the injury and trauma that the rearing of cattle in Nigeria has caused? At the times when he has been accused of nepotism in his appointments, did he understand the sensibilities? He seems to have just doubled down, making it difficult for those who used to defend him to even bother. I understand. Good political players don't come to their bosses with bad news. They tell their Oga that everything is wonderful.

As I travel and talk to people around the country, I cannot but feel that our President is gasping for goodwill. There is angst in the land. His situation has been seriously exacerbated by the endless in fighting within the APC. How does the APC win when they have no real grassroot campaign structure in several states because of the brouhaha that has followed the party primaries? Am I the only one who sometimes wonders who is in charge at APC? Is it Buhari? Tinubu? Oshiomhole? Amaechi or the motley of paper tigers that the President appears to surround himself with? The madness in Port Harcourt, Owerri, Abeokuta, Taraba and almost everywhere else cannot make things easier. How are they going to do it?

In the last days of the Jonathan government, I felt very sorry for the guy who is probably the most likeable President we have ever had. He was trying very hard to conquer the mighty Nigerian nation when the birds had already flown away. The people he trusted had let him down. They did not tell him the truth. Suddenly, GEJ was everywhere at once with bags of money trying to woo Afenifere, OPC, MASSOB, Ijaw Boys, Nollywood and everyone else. It was too late. Bags of money just could not buy Jonathan love.

Are we seeing a repeat performance of the same movie with a different cast? Does the last-minute attempt to drive a wedge in Afenifere, Ohaneze, SDP and co say anything to you? Is it a sign of confidence or desperation? It is only seven days. We will soon know.

See you next week