I was going to title this piece, waiting for Godot, to capture the sense of futility that is currently inflicting our nation. However Groundhog Day seems a more apt comparison. Because while Godot never comes, February 3 eventually does.

I am not one of those people who ascribe God like powers to the President, and therefore blaming him for all the ills of the nation. However his inactivity on the national stage since the inauguration has been disconcerting to say the least. We were not expecting bells and whistles and fancy 100 day plans, however a statement of intent would have been nice.

The President did respond forcefully to the Boko Haram bombings, which shows that he is keeping an oar in. However in a US or EU style press conference, he'd have been forced to answer questions about his plans for power, oil & gas, infrastructure, etc. I truly believe that the President was the right choice for the nation, however it would be nice if he started to show it.

According to the Buddhists, Groundhog Day is a movie about transcendence. Mr. Murray was able to move onto the next day because he fixed his flaws and achieved "nirvana". Taking that analogy further: you can liken all our issues are the flaws that have to be fixed before we can move on to the next day, you can liken most of what has gone on in the country until now as Bill Murray playing around with the newly found discovery of his daytrip.

I (and a lot of other people) am hoping that as a nation we have finally reached the point where Bill Murray decided to become a better person. Having said that, I still don't expect that the President will eventually succeed in taking us to February 3. After all that is the work of a lifetime. However I'm hoping that he will move us further along the path.

Having said all this, it would be a shame if the sense of optimism and hope generated by the election fades to the general feelings of despondency and despair that so easily comes to the fore in Nigeria. If that happens then we would really be waiting for Godot.