Nigeria, Oct. 26 -- Through Kaduna, its old political capital, the North spoke two days ago. And the echo will haunt those who have spent months marketing the lie that the North has abandoned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The Kaduna Township Stadium was full beyond capacity, and the mammoth crowd overflowed into the well-adorned streets. It was a confetti of colours, flags raised high and proudly: a sea of red caps, white babanriga, green wrappers, placards proclaiming "Sai Asiwaju." It was a cacophony of languages - Hausa, Fulfulde, Tiv, Idoma, Gbagyi, Yoruba, Nupe, Kanuri, and English. Entire APC governors from the North, supported by their southern counterparts, sat shoulder-to-shoulder with former governors, legislators, imams, pastor...